Under a War-Torn Sky
by SpicyDog99
Summary: AU. The peace meeting fails, horribly. Burn and Blaze are dead; Blister sits atop the Sandwing throne, and the dragonets have fled into hiding. But as the new Sandwing Queen turns her gaze on the rest of Pyrrhia, the dragonets discover that the end of one war spells the start of another…
1. Failure

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tui T. Sutherland's _Wings of Fire_ series. She holds all rights to the world, characters, and plot. I'm simply taking her sandbox and playing with it.

* * *

Failure

Sunny knew things would not end well when she saw the second dragonbite viper leap out of the box.

She definitely knew it was the end for Clay when she got up, dazed, and saw him limping, fang marks on his leg, the black ink of the viper's venom spreading quickly beneath his scales.

But when Peril arrived, Sunny dared to hope, dared to believe that things would end well for once. Fate and prophecy had not been kind to the dragonets, not since they first escaped their guardians' cave mere weeks ago. They had all suffered through trials and heartbreak; and now, with their goal in sight, everything was falling apart. Everything they worked so hard to achieve, gone with two viper bites.

Peace was dead. But as Peril's fiery orange figure rocketed into the Sandwing Palace, Sunny dared to hope that Clay wouldn't join peace in death. That Peril could carve the poison out of his leg, painful and dangerous as that sounded.

Sunny nearly fainted with relief when she felt Clay's chest rise and fall after Peril's impromptu surgery. Her relief was short-lived, however, when Blister's voice broke the silence that had befallen the Palace.

"To the victor go the spoils of war."

Sunny whipped toward the source of the voice, as did every other dragon in the vicinity. Blister stood behind Blaze, claws gripped tightly around her sister's snout, muffling her cries of pain as the tip of Blister's barbed tail sank deep into Blaze's heart. Within seconds Blaze's protests quieted—Blister nonchalantly released her hold on her sister, who flopped to the ground, squirming feebly in her death throes.

"Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn," Blister said, quoting the prophecy, "two shall die and one shall learn…" She reared up, flicking her tail. Sunny saw a posse of Sandwing guards flank her protectively.

"…that the Sandwing throne belongs to the one cunning enough to earn it, prophecy or not."

Shouts of alarmed echoed through the crowd. Queen Glacier whipped toward Blister, icy teeth bared. Blister glanced back casually, as if saying: _Go on, I dare you. Attack me when you've lost your only ally. Give me an excuse to kill you._

"No!" screamed Sunny. "This is a peace meeting! We're supposed to decide the next Sandwing queen without any more fighting."

" _Was_ a peace meeting," Blister corrected. "Instead, it became the very opportunity I needed to kill my sisters and win the throne that I deserve."

"You don't deserve the throne, Blister," said Tsunami, gills flaring as she stepped forward. "You've never deserved it and never will. The Sandwings would be better off with anyone other than you."

"Would they?" Blister turned to the dragons gathered along the walls of the Palace.

"I ask this of all of you—who would make the best Sandwing queen? Burn, the cruel, heartless tyrant who thrives off others' pain? No. She would bring ruin to the Sandwings, treat us like the oddities she keeps in her wretched weirdling tower. She would crush us into the sand, lord over us as if we were mere gems in her treasury."

Looks of confusion spread through the crowd. Sunny spotted Thorn perched ready for takeoff. Her mother met her eyes and Sunny saw the silent message: _this will end horribly, get ready to run._

"Or what about Blaze? My ineffectual, vain, idiotic excuse for a sister? She wouldn't care about the Sandwings, oh no! She'd be like a spoiled Rainwing, dithering and prancing about the Palace all day, ordering everyone to pamper to her every whim. She wouldn't govern us, wouldn't step in to lead should another tribe attack us. In fact," Blister turned menacingly to Queen Glacier, "Blaze planned to give almost half of our territory to Ice Queen here for helping her to gain the throne. Tell me, what self-respecting queen would betray her tribe like this?"

Glacier hissed, though she backed up a step as murmurs trickled through the crowd at Blister's words. Sunny's heart dropped. Every word of what Blister had said so far was true.

"No. I am the only queen worthy of my mother's throne, and I have proven it by killing my two competitors today in front of you, dragons of Pyrrhia." She turned to Sunny, her black orbs meeting Sunny's eyes.

"And in front of the dragonets of destiny."

Silence.

Then Glory laughed.

"Oh yes, you are definitely worthy of Oasis's throne. Because of course the conniving, manipulative sister always makes the best queen, especially after she almost _murders_ one of the dragonets," she said, gesturing toward the still-unconscious Clay.

"Did I also mention that she tried to undermine Queen Coral and take control of the Seawings? Or that she planned to invade the rainforest? She would have done so by now had the five of us chosen her for queen." Glory's scales turned from their previous white and green to a vibrant shade of red.

"If we'd chosen Blister for queen, an entire _tribe_ of dragons would be dead by now. Is that the kind of queen the Sandwings want?"

Silence again. Blister's glare was as cold as an Icewing's breath. Then, the corners of her snout lifted in a malicious smile.

"It doesn't matter whether or not the Sandwings want me as queen. What matters," she said, flaring her wings regally, "is that the Sandwings _will_ have me as queen. They will have a queen who is smart, rich, and powerful, a queen who will make the Sandwings a strong tribe once more. A queen who will treat kindly those who accept her rule, and… _persuade_ those who refuse."

To her dismay, Sunny saw the Sandwings bow—hesitantly at first, then one after another. Within the black orbs of her tribe's dragons she saw a myriad of emotions: fear, hopelessness, grudging acceptance, silent defiance. She saw more than a few looks of wholehearted respect.

Blister's grin widened as she turned to the dragonets.

"That settles that. Only one thing left." She pointed a talon at Sunny. "Arrest the runt and her friends. They will die for all the trouble they've caused me." Blister's guards pounced.

Before Sunny could react a sandy blur slammed into the guards. She caught a fleeting glimpse of Thorn before hearing her shout, "Run!"

Sunny froze in a perfect Starflight imitation.

"I said RUN, Sunny!" Thorn screamed one last time before she became a whirlwind of claws and teeth, fending off Blister's guards.

Heart wrenching, Sunny grabbed Clay and dragged his hefty body as fast as she could. "We're leaving," she said, "get back to the rainforest!"

Glory, Deathbringer, Tsunami, and Riptide shot into the sky, flying protectively overhead as the Palace descended into chaos—some dragons taking flight, some pushing forward, others milling about aimlessly, and a few rushing to catch the dragonets or stop Thorn. Fatespeaker grabbed Starflight and helped him into the air.

Sunny pulled on Clay. She opened her wings and flapped hard, but she couldn't get off the ground, not while carrying a passed-out Mudwing twice her size and weight. She bumped Clay's leg and he let out a pained moan.

"Come on, Clay, hang in there," she cried out, tears welling in her eyes. He was their bigwings, the leader of their little troop, the one keeping them all together. He listened to her, supported her when no one else would. No way was she letting him die here in Blister's clutches. She'd drag him all the way to the animus tunnel if she had to.

A pair of orange claws suddenly appeared next to Sunny's. She looked up to see Peril.

"I've got him, Sunny. Go!"

"Are you—"

"Yes, I can carry him just fine. Just go, I'll be right behind you."

Her throat clogged with unspeakable gratitude, Sunny simply nodded and took to the air. She chanced a look behind her and nearly plummeted back to the ground. Thorn, blood-streaked and panting, was backed up against the walls of the Palace by Blister's guards. Even from a distance Sunny saw her flanks heaving with exhaustion.

"Rainwings, attack!"

As soon as Glory gave the command, Sunny watched in horrid fascination as the fifteen Rainwings shed their disguises, reared back, and spat their black, inky venom at Blister's guards. Their menacing growls broke off into screams of agony as they wiped at the acidic spit, invariably adding to the pain. In a wingbeat Thorn was out of there, airborne and heading toward Sunny.

"Fall back, head for the rainforest!" Glory shouted, before the dragonets turned tail and ran for the tunnel.

As Sunny's wings beat against the hot desert air, the screams of dying dragons reached her ears. She glanced back at the Palace, now almost empty of dragons, as those who had come to watch the meeting fled into the night. Slowly she turned her gaze to the night sky above, where the two moons and the comet blazed, oblivious to the horrors that lay beneath their bright light. What had once seemed a promise, an omen that things would change, now seemed a cruel joke to Sunny.

The brightest night had come. The dragonets had gathered the three Sandwing sisters for a peace meeting.

Two were dead now, and the worst of them ruled the tribe.

She had failed. She had failed the destiny— _her_ destiny—to bring peace to Pyrrhia and end the war.

Sunny closed her eyes and hung her head. She felt like nothing more than the scared, mixed-breed runt that she was.


	2. What Keeps Us Together

What Keeps Us Together

The cool, humid air of the rainforest greeted Tsunami as she stepped out of the tunnel, as did the buzzing of insects and the faint croaks of frogs. She scanned the clearing outside the tunnel before motioning the others to follow her through. Slowly everyone else piled through, followed by the Nightwings and Rainwings that Glory had brought as back up.

"Is that everyone?" asked Sunny. Tsunami did a quick head count. She saw Starflight and Fatespeaker stumble through after Glory and Deathbringer, followed shortly by Riptide, who immediately sat by Tsunami, his tail twining with hers reassuringly. She spied Thorn and a couple Rainwings limp through, bleeding from injuries sustained in the escape from Blister's guards. More Rainwings piled through after them, all of them shaken and wide-eyed at what just happened.

Someone was missing.

"Where's Clay?" asked Tsunami, panic edging into her commanding tone.

"Right here," gasped a voice. To her immense relief, Tsunami saw Peril bring up the rear of the group, panting heavily from the escape with Clay's limp body still gripped tightly in her claws. Tsunami's eyes drifted to Clay's leg. Despite the lack of venom, the wound still looked terrible—the flesh raw and bleeding, the scales mangled and caked in blood.

"We need to get Clay to the healers _now_ ," said Tsunami. "Everyone get back to the village."

She bounded over to Peril. "I've got him from here, Peril."

The Skywing adamantly shook her head. "I'm not leaving him until I know he's alright."

"You've done enough, Peril." She had saved Clay's life already. Tsunami didn't want her to burn herself out fretting over Clay. "You're exhausted. Go get some rest. Glory, lend me a wing here."

Relcutantly, Peril released her grip on Clay and took off. Together Tsunami and Glory lifted Clay into the air, with Deathbringer and Riptide following close for support. With heavy wingbeats they followed the others through the dense trees back to the Rainwing village.

They made a beeline straight for the healers' hut, where Peril was already waiting despite Tsunami's orders. She sighed internally, though truthfully she admired Peril for her unwavering loyalty to Clay.

The healers took one look at Clay's wound and blanched, having never seen a burn as bad as it before. Even the terrible disfigurement caused by Rainwing venom seemed tame compared to the giant hole in Clay's leg.

"What happened?" said one healer, his scales turning green.

"Dragonbite viper," said Tsunami. "Blister brought _two_ to the peace meeting and one of them bit Clay. He would've died right there if Peril hadn't flown in and burned the venom out."

The other healer whistled. "We'll, uh, treat this right away."

They dragged Clay onto a bedding of large tree leaves and proceeded to treat his injury. Tsunami watched them, anxious. Clay's chest rose and fell, his breathing shallow and weak.

"Sunny and the rest have met up with Grandeur by the audience treehouse," said Riptide, who'd returned after leaving to check on the others.

Glory nodded. "We should go meet with them, Tsunami." She wrinkled her snout, her scales a light tinge of blue. "We have a lot of things to talk about."

"What about Clay—"

"I'll stay with him," said Peril, hovering next to the healers, who cast nervous glances at her burning hot scales.

Tsunami nodded. "Thank you. For everything, really. If you hadn't been there…"

Peril shook her head. Tsunami spotted a single tear glisten against her coppery snout.

"It was nothing."

With a heavy sigh, Tsunami turned and followed Glory and Riptide out of the treehouse.

* * *

"Well. That worked out well."

Tsunami growled. "Glory, not now."

"Not now?" spat Glory, her scales blue tinged with a vibrant red. "Then when? When the world ends? As far as I'm concerned that might be better than a world with Blister as the Sandwing queen." Silver, who hung around Glory's neck like a furry piece of jewelry, agreed with an audible, "Weerrghh."

They were gathered in the audience treehouse, around the central table scattered with scrolls. Glory sat behind the desk, her characteristic grouchy expression more pronounced than ever. Deathbringer sat next to her, face impassive, with Grandeur and Mangrove next to him. The rest of the dragonets sat on the other side, different expressions of grief, anxiety, and frustration (on Tsunami's part) written across their snouts.

"Calm down," said Starflight. "We have enough to worry about without you two starting things up again."

Glory snorted. "You don't say."

"So here's the deal," said Deathbringer slowly. "We have one very smart and very angry Sandwing queen who wants to hunt us down and kill us for interfering with her claiming the Sandwing throne the old fashioned way. Which, I might add, we failed to stop, despite our best efforts."

Glory gave him a peeved look. "Mind telling us something we _don't_ know?"

He held up his claws ineffectually. "Well…on the bright side, the war is over now, isn't it? Blister has the throne, and for now no one can take it from her, least of all us. Maybe now Pyrrhia can go back to being nice and peaceful again."

Starflight shook his head, the trailing ends of his blindfold flapping listlessly.

"Not likely. We've all seen what Blister is like, how she schemes and manipulates dragons to do her will. She's a power-hungry monster—once the novelty of being queen wears off, I doubt she'll be satisfied with just that position."

"Besides," said Tsunami, "even if she weren't a power-hungry monster, she would definitely be hunting for our hides after all the trouble we put her through." She clenched her claws, digging grooves into the wooden floor of the. "Of all the queens…why didn't the Sandwings say anything? Do they want Blister as queen?"

"It's not like they had much of a choice," Riptide interjected. "Their two alternatives are dead, and Blister doesn't strike me as the kind of queen to listen to her subjects' opinions. Or even tolerate them."

Fatespeaker nodded in agreement. "If only I'd had a vision that this would happen…Why is it I never get them when we need them?"

Suddenly Sunny spoke, her voice quiet.

"It wouldn't have mattered Fatespeaker. Even if we knew what Blister was planning, there was nothing we could do to stop her." She pulled her wings in close to her body, tail curled around her talons.

"There was nothing we could do to stop any of this."

Silence fell over the group.

"It didn't help that we had no plan," Sunny continued, head drooping. "No backup plan, even, in case things went badly. I thought we could just gather the three queens together and let the Sandwings decide for themselves who they wanted for queen. I thought everyone wanted the war to end so badly that they'd finally speak up and choose. I should have known it was too much to hope for."

"Sunny," said Thorn, laying a claw on her shoulder, "don't—"

"Don't what, mother?" Sunny shouted, yanking herself away from Thorn's touch. "Don't feel bad for failing to end the war peacefully? Don't feel bad for disappointing my friends, and all of Pyrrhia? Don't feel bad for _almost getting Clay killed?!_ "

"Sunny, you didn't—" She didn't let Tsunami finish.

"No! No, no, NO! I'm not going to lie to myself about this! I'm not going sit by while everyone says, 'Oh, it's alright, Sunny, you gave it your best shot, don't feel bad.' _No._ It was my fault, and there's nothing alright with that." Sunny's whole body quivered, the moonlight streaming through window highlighting her pained expression.

"It was my idea to begin with. All of this—a peaceful meeting between the three sisters at Burn's stronghold, all on the brightest night—it was my idea." She spun around, looking her friends intently in the eyes. Tsunami was startled to see nothing but self-loathing in the little Sandwing's eyes.

"You all wanted to just pick a queen and kill the other two, save ourselves the trouble. I should have known you'd be right again. Nothing about my plan changed the outcome. We didn't get to choose who would be queen. And Clay almost died."

She sighed, long and deep, her rage ebbing away into bitter spite. Tsunami noticed Thorn flinch visibly, pain and anger in her eyes. Beside Sunny, Starflight looked lost and bewildered, as if he were suddenly sitting next to a stranger.

"It's not like it matters anyway. You're right, Starflight. Blister will be coming after us. Sooner or later she'll find us, and we'll be dead. And after that she'll go on scheming and killing her way through Pyrrhia. Hundreds of dragons will die anyway." Abruptly she turned and squeezed her way out of the treehouse.

"Maybe we should have just let the war continue."

As Sunny's dejected clawsteps faded, Starflight—who'd been sitting with his jaw hanging open—shook himself and pushed his way out of the treehouse, calling, "Wait, Sunny! Come back!" Fatespeaker followed behind him, a look of concern on her face. After a moment Thorn left too, her brows furrowed in agitation.

Glory's scales roiled with blue and pale green. "Three moons…I've never seen Sunny like this before," she whispered.

Her sudden seriousness now, after spouting so much sarcasm, ticked off Tsunami. "Oh, _now_ you take things seriously, after one of us has a full-blown breakdown. Big help you've been, Miss Queen of Sarcasm, with all your snark and attitude."

Red bloomed across Glory's snout as she faced Tsunami. "Are you kidding me, Tsunami? You're bringing this up now? Didn't you see the look on Sunny's face just now?"

"Did you? I have half a mind that you caused it. On purpose."

"Great moons, not now," Riptide muttered, covering his face with his wings.

"What?" The rest of Glory's scales swiftly turned red. "Since when? And why? Last I checked I wasn't a conniving Sandwing who killed her two sisters and ruined the dragonets' peace meeting."

Tsunami's gills pulsed angrily. "You might be. You have your crimson head stuck so far up your rear I'm beginning to think you're Blister. Or Blaze. More like Blaze, actually."

"Ooh—not good," said Deathbringer, who immediately flung his claws around Glory to keep her from launching herself across the table. Tsunami hissed in response.

"Enough!" The dragonets were startled out of their argument by Grandeur, who slammed a heavy claw on the wooden floor for emphasis. "I will not have you two fighting like year-old hatchlings over something as pointless as this. We have more important issues to deal with."

"Such as?" Tsunami spat.

Grandeur stepped over to Tsunami and towered over her, looking straight into her eyes.

"Such as making sure this village is equipped to deal with a possible attack. If what your friend Starflight says is true about Blister, it won't be long before she sends her Sandwings into the rainforest, regardless of whether or not she knows we're here. I doubt fighting a tribe of half-starved Nightwings is anything like facing Blister's battle-hardened veterans."

The ancient Rainwing then spun toward Glory, who was still being restrained by Deathbringer, her red scales standing out against his black ones.

"Speaking of the Nightwings, we need to keep tensions between the two tribes down. There are still many Nightwings who oppose being ruled by a Rainwing, as you are no doubt aware, Glory. Sunny's abduction is only proof of that. Before we can even think of fighting Blister's forces, we need to ensure that the two tribes can stand together, and not turn on each other like you two almost did."

Tsunami's anger faded. Grandeur was right. With Blister on the throne, she, her friends, the Rainwing and the Nightwings were all in danger. Clay was terribly wounded and Sunny needed their support now more than ever.

And here she was bickering with Glory. Again.

She watched as Glory's scales faded to a deep purple. She gingerly peeled Deathbringer's claws off herself, though he stayed close by anyway.

"I'm sorry, Grandeur. This night has been one huge mess. None of us have been thinking clearly, not after the peace meeting."

"What's done is done," said Mangrove. "There's no point in harping on what could or should have been. You're all exhausted—get some rest, and tomorrow we can begin sorting these issues out."

As they piled out of the treehouse, Tsunami stopped Glory by the door.

"Sorry about what happened just now."

Glory shook her head impatiently. "Don't be. It was just as much my fault. I'm going to help Starflight and the others find Sunny before I turn in for the night, make sure she's OK. You?"

Tsunami's eyes drifted to the healers' hut in the distance. "I'll go check on Clay, make sure he's doing fine. And Peril, as well. She hasn't left his side since the peace meeting."

A faint smile lifted the corners of Glory's mouth. "Heh. If there's anyone we should be thanking it's her. If she hadn't been there…" She shuddered, scales turning blue-grey for an instant. "It would just be the four of us. No loveable, hungry Mudwing to keep us together. No bigwings for us to lean against."

"Clay is alive. That's all that matters," Tsunami stated emphatically.

Glory nodded, her wings tinged with warm pink. "Yes, it is." She twined her tail with Tsunami's.

"Go check on Clay. Then get some rest. Moons above, we're going to need it."

As Tsunami glided through the trees, her thoughts revolving around Clay and her friends, she remembered back to the days they spent under the mountain, still under the watchful eyes of Dune, Webs, and Kestrel. She remembered being chained up after their first meeting with Morrowseer. She remembered Clay volunteering to go down the river and find a way to open the boulder so they could escape, despite Glory's protests. She remembered their heartfelt farewells as they wished him luck on what seemed at the time to be a suicide mission.

To think that it had been mere weeks ago that they escaped from their guardians. To think that Clay, the first-hatched among them and their unofficial older brother, would end up finding the escape they desired and sticking with them as they journeyed into a world filled with danger. Though she had…feelings…for Riptide, Tsunami knew she'd always have a place inside her for Clay.

And now, Clay was on death's doorstep. All because he couldn't bear to see any of his friends hurt.

All because Blister so selfishly wanted the Sandwing throne.

A glimmer of fury shone in Tsunami's eyes as she flew. Someday, she would make Blister pay for what she did to Clay. For what she did to all of the dragonets.

And if she had to fight through Blister's entire army to do it, then so be it.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry this chapter was a bit heavy. It's just that, considering how much the prophecy meant to Sunny, it would make sense that she'd feel distraught if she failed to achieve the peaceful resolution she and the others had worked so hard towards. The previous chapter was more of a setup of this AU, showing where precisely it diverges from the books. From this point on, the story will go on its own tangent. That said, there will be a few characters from _Moon Rising_ and onward who will make cameos. It won't be anything to major though, my intent is to follow the five dragonets as they try to figure out where to go in this alternate timeline.

I'm open to any and all suggestions you have for this story. Although I started writing this for fun, I'm also trying to gain as much practice and experience as possible. So if you're confused about anything, or if a character is OOC or a plot point doesn't seem worked out enough, please don't hesitate to tell me in a review.

I hope you enjoy reading this and I look forward to your feedback!

~SpicyDog99


	3. Coming Back

Coming Back

"Sunny? Sunny, where are you?"

Starflight stumbled out onto the bridge outside the treehouse, listening intently for Sunny's clawsteps. Instead he heard her wingbeats fading to the north, the sound muffled by the humid air. Uncertainly he ran along the bridge, keeping his wings out and brushing the ropes, until he reached the platform at the end. He almost took a running leap off the edge, before stopping himself. There was no way he could catch up to herself when he couldn't see and barely knew the rainforest's layout. He'd be more likely to hurt or kill himself flying into a tree.

Frustration welled up inside him. He'd always hated the darkness that enveloped him, ever since it first swallowed his world back on the Nightwing island when the volcano erupted. His last visible memory would forever be of Morrowseer, smiling smugly down at them after having claimed the prophecy was false. He remembered Sunny's cry, her flight through the tunnel—the last time he would see her beautiful golden scales—before the bright blast of the volcano flooded his eyes and took his vision for good.

Now the blindness kept him from going to comfort the one dragon he'd ever loved. Still loved to some extent, if he was perfectly honest with himself. Sunny may not have lost her eyesight, but she still lost something just as vital to her: the prophecy, the prophecy she believed in when no one else did. And in her time of pain, Starflight was powerless to help her.

"Starflight!"

Except…

"Fatespeaker." Starflight felt the Nightwing brush against his side. "We have to follow Sunny," he said, pointing his snout in the last direction he'd heard her wingbeats.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not going to abandon my friend now," he said, reaching a claw out for Fatespeaker. "She's your friend too, Fatespeaker. We can't just let her go."

"But how…I can't see her anymore. Where'd she go?"

"Last I heard she sounded like she was heading north. Just guide me in that direction and…we'll…"

We'll what? Starflight didn't know. Sunny could be anywhere by now, all because he couldn't see where she'd gone. He was tempted to rip the blindfold off his head and shred it to pieces, pointless as that would be. Tamarin may have made peace with a life without sight, but Starflight didn't think he would ever get used to it, not in the foreseeable future.

"Wait," said Fatespeaker, "there's Thorn! She's going after Sunny too. I'm going to go with her, just keep close."

They took off into the sky, their wingbeats matching each other as Starflight stayed within touching range. Besides his own and Fatespeaker's, he heard the heavy wingbeats of another dragon approaching from in front of them. Starflight guessed it was Thorn, and his suspicions were confirmed when her voice came from the right.

"Are you going after Sunny too?"

"Yes," said Fatespeaker.

There was a moment for silence, before Thorn said, "I don't know if it will help much, but you're welcome to tag along."

They flew for an interminable stretch of time—in his distress Starflight couldn't tell whether minutes or hours had passed. Finally Fatespeaker told him to prepare for landing, and they landed on the soft dirt of the forest floor. Starflight couldn't hear the village behind him anymore, only the swish of wind through the treetops and the nightly chorus of crickets and frogs.

"I see her straight ahead," Fatespeaker whispered, "hiding under the roots of a large tree. She…doesn't look so good."

"I'll go first," said Starflight, then walked forward before either Fatespeaker or Thorn could stop him. The soft dirt muffled his clawsteps, punctuated only by the rustling of vegetation he brushed past.

"Sunny?" he called out gently.

No response. His claw scraped against something hard; Starflight tapped it and heard a dull _thunk_. It was one of the roots of the tree.

"Sunny? It's me, Starflight."

He heard a slight shifting noise, the sound of breathing. A pause.

"Why did you follow me?"

Her voice was little more than a whimper, tinged with grief and laden with tears. Simply hearing her made his heart soar with happiness—and cry with pain. He knew it was Sunny, yet the voice he heard sounded nothing like the bright, optimistic Sandwing he'd fallen in love with.

"I couldn't leave you. After what you said to us, there was no way I could just let you go."

He heard clawsteps behind him. "Fatespeaker and your mother came as well."

More rustling. "You shouldn't have," was the only response he got.

"Sunny," Thorn began hesitantly, an edge to her voice, "I know you're mad at me."

Sunny didn't respond.

"I know you blame yourself for what happened at the peace meeting." Starflight heard Thorn's heavy clawsteps as she and Fatespeaker came up beside him, heard their tails brush the undergrowth as they sat down with him.

"But it wasn't your fault," said Fatespeaker. "None of it was. It's not like you could control what Blister did."

Starflight nodded. "From what she said to Burn, Blister sent the dragonbite vipers long before we arranged the peace meeting. It would have happened anyway."

"That's not the point," Sunny replied harshly. "I said that we could end this war peacefully, and all of you agreed. All of you put your faith in my plan, put your _lives_ on the line for me, and in the end my plan failed. Burn and Blaze are dead, and who knows how many more. Clay is almost dead, and even if he survives he'll barely be able to walk again."

She chuckled, the action empty of any mirth. "I don't even know why you bother with me anymore. There's no prophecy; I'm not special in any way. Why do you put up with a half-Sandwing, half-Nightwing runt of a dragon who can't fight and has no special powers? I'm nothing but a burden. To all of you."

A roar from the right startled Starflight. He heard Sunny yelp in surprise.

"Look at me. Look. At. Me. Sunny!" Starflight could practically feel the fury in Thorn's voice reverberating through his scales. "Don't you DARE say that about yourself. You are not a runt, and you are definitely not a burden. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you hear me?"

He heard a shaky sigh. "What are you talking about, mother? You saw what happened at the peace meeting."

"I saw everything that happened. Every camel-cursed thing. And I don't care. You are my daughter, my _only_ daughter, and will be forever. I don't give an armadillo's turd whether you manage to save all of Pyrrhia, or bring about the wings of fire, or whatever it is that blasted prophecy says."

"But—"

"I don't even care that Blister is the queen of the Sandwings. Because you know what? Queens can be killed. And after seeing what that treacherous snake did to you, I'm sorely tempted to fly straight back to Burn's Stronghold right now and skin the worm alive.

"But the one thing I _do_ care about is a dragonet. A perfectly fine, perfectly special dragonet who flew an entire continent to find her mother. A dragonet who loves her friends, and cares about others so much that she's willing to go out of her way to bring three sides in a war together to find a peaceful resolution. By the moons, Sunny, I've been living under a war-torn sky for all twenty of my years. I've seen dragons kill and die pointlessly for the entire span of this stupid conflict. And until you and your friends came along, until you made it your destiny to end this war and bring peace to Pyrrhia, not _once_ did any other dragon come as close to peace as you did. Not _once_ was any dragon able to convince all three sisters to meet in one location; not _once_ did any dragon attempt to give the Sandwings a say in their future queen; and not _once_ did a dragon try to end this war in any way other than saying, 'Oh, we'll just let the dragonets of destiny do it, the prophecy said so!'

"No. Sunny, you were the _first_. You had faith in the good of dragons. You had the determination to achieve your destiny. Most of all, you had the courage to stand up for what's right.

"And you know what courageous dragons _don't_ do? Sit around in a corner of the rainforest feeling sorry for themselves when they fail."

A pause. Starflight heard Thorn breathing heavily.

"Your friends still need you, Sunny. Please don't let them down."

Thorn quieted, her rage subdued. Starflight heard a sniffling sound. Without a second thought he reached out and wrapped Sunny's warm body in his wings. She leaned into him instinctively, burrowing her head into his chest as the tears fell freely. No words were needed—Thorn had more than enough to spare.

"Wow," murmured Fatespeaker, "talk about tough love." Her voice drifted into silence.

Suddenly Thorn hollered, "You can come out now, Glory!"

"Glory?" said Fatespeaker. "She's here?"

"I just wanted to make sure Sunny was alright." Glory's voice drifted in from the south. "I was positive I was camouflaged."

"You were. Your sloth wasn't. And it's hard not to ignore a sloth gripping thin air," said Thorn.

"Wurrrrble," said Silver apologetically.

"It's nothing," said Glory to Silver. Starflight heard her approaching and released his embrace.

"I just wanted to apologize, Sunny, for my attitude earlier tonight. It really wasn't necessary and it hurt you more than I realized. I won't make excuses for what I said. All I ask is that you come back with us."

He heard Glory scuff the dirt with her claws. "I know we haven't been the best group of friends for you. We've always treated you like a delicate hatchling, when you clearly wanted to help out. We didn't take you or the prophecy seriously, especially after Morrowseer revealed it to be false. We hardly ever listened to your ideas, and half the time we did, we 'conveniently' forgot who originally suggested them. And when we finally go along with your peace meeting, and it fails, we don't even consider how you would feel as we prattle on about doomed we are. Which, I should add, we aren't. We're just in a difficult place right now."

She fell silent, before continuing.

"We almost lost Clay tonight; we still might lose Clay. If we lose you too…well, let's just say that Blister would have a lot less trouble from the 'dragonets of destiny' if they disbanded."

Starflight turned to Sunny. "Please, Sunny, don't leave us."

 _Don't leave me._

Sunny sniffed loudly, before saying, "OK."

Starflight felt like he would burst into tears.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"But I still don't know what we're going to do about Blister."

"We'll worry about Blister later," said Glory. "What we all need now is a good night's rest."

"Murrp," said Silver.

"Really, Silver? You want Sunny to carry you? Alright, if she wants to."

Starflight could practically feel the air around him brighten with Sunny's mood. "Oh, yes please!"

"Wait," said Fatespeaker as Glory transferred the furry creature to Sunny, "I thought dragons couldn't understand sloths."

"Oh no, we certainly can," Starflight piped in.

"Really?"

"Yep. I read about it, in…uh… _An Introduction to Sloth-Keeping_. Yep, it was definitely mentioned in that scroll.

Fatespeaker sounded skeptical when she said, "Huh. I don't remember any scroll by that title…"

"Well, I mean, it's rare and all. Lucky for us Webs had a copy back in our cave under the mountain. Heh, never thought I'd ever find a use for it."

As they took off through the trees back towards the village, Starflight felt the tension between his shoulders ease slightly, despite the night's terrible events. He hadn't lost a close friend, after all. And while he was sightless, that didn't mean he couldn't help her friend get back on her claws and become her former self again.

And if it meant making up a scroll or two along the way, then really, it was a no-brainer.

* * *

That night, as the dragonets collapsed into fitful slumber, Starflight lay awake.

"Starflight?" whispered Fatespeaker, who lay curled up next to him. "You awake?"

"Can't sleep."

"Yeah," said Fatespeaker. "Today was just one big storm of trouble, huh? Still can't believe I didn't get a vision of this happening. With something this big, you'd think I'd get at least an inkling of a bad feeling." She groaned out loud. "Never thought my powers would be so unreliable."

Starflight didn't respond.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

He shifted his wings, his mind a mess of thoughts.

"I just hope she's OK," he said. Sunny hadn't stayed with Starflight after they returned to the village, going instead to the healer's hut, where she stayed vigil with Peril over the still-comatose Clay. The healer's had done their best with what resources they had, but their prognosis remained grim. Even if Clay woke up, he would probably have a limp for the rest of his life—assuming of course that the leg didn't get infected, in which case he'd likely lose the limb. The only thing they could do now was wait and hope that their bigwings could pull through.

She had also insisted that her mother get her wounds treated, though most of the cuts had stopped bleeding at that point. Thorn had acquiesced only after Sunny refused to quit bugging her about it; still, her mother seemed grateful that her daughter was in better spirits.

"The prophecy was such a big part of her life. It was her big goal, the motivation that kept her going. Without it she feels lost. Useless." Starflight sighed. "Like I feel without you guiding me."

"But she came through tonight," said Fatespeaker. "With your help."

He chuckled. "Actually, her mother did most of it with her little pep talk. I just stood there awkwardly and let her cry into my shoulder."

"Sometimes that's all you need to do, Starflight. Be a shoulder to cry into."

Starflight fidgeted, unsure of how to phrase his next question.

"You, uh, aren't bothered by it?"

He felt her shift her head to look at him. "Bothered by what?"

"Me…hugging her."

He could practically feel her confusion pooling around him.

"Why would I be bothered by that?" she said after a moment of silence.

Starflight ground his teeth in nervousness. "I…I told you about what happened between me and her before we rescued the Rainwings from my tribe. And…how she reacted."

She sniffed. "You told her that you loved her, but you think she doesn't love you back."

"Um, yeah."

She sighed. "I'm not jealous of you and her, if that's what you're wondering. Sunny's a good friend, to both of us. She won't stop being our friend because I'm here; she's not the kind of dragon to do that. In fact, we get along really well."

He couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I've noticed. It's like you two were hatched from the same clutch of eggs."

"What was it Glory said? We were 'strangely adorable' or something like that." She patted his side. "Anyway, you should stop being a worrywart. Sunny will be fine, she just needs some time to get herself back together."

With that she tucked herself into his side with a contented sigh. "Get some sleep, Star."

As Fatespeaker's breathing evened out, Starflight thought about his friends—all of them, and what they would do now, with peace gone and Blister as Sandwing queen. Would they have time to get themselves together, after everything that happened? What would they do now, with the succession war over and no prophecy to guide them?

He recalled Blister's voice, her snide arrogance as she ordered their arrest. Whatever it was they did next, they'd have to watch their backs. For Blister was actively hunting for them. And she now had a legion of Sandwings at her back.


	4. Queen of Poison

Queen of Poison

Of all the things Smolder expected to be after the failed peace meeting, alive was not one of them.

Alive, with Flower, also wasn't one of them.

But alive, with Flower, and imprisoned in the weirdling tower alongside Queen Glacier? Not once in the moments after Blister's victory had he even considered finding himself in this situation.

The tower was dark, in all of its creepy, psychopathic glory. Burn's toys still cluttered the place, though Smolder doubted they would remain for long. If he knew his one surviving sister (and he would considering how long he'd avoided getting killed by her), she would destroy any traces of her former competitors for the Sandwing throne and erase them from history. It wouldn't do to have some upstart Sandwing attempt a revolt in Burn or Blaze's names now, would it?

He was lying despondently in the cage that had previously housed Scarlet until Sunny's friend Peril came and rescued the disfigured former queen. He swore he could still smell the reek of the Skywing's half-melted scales. Flower was in a smaller cage adjacent to his, looking worried with her scrunched up scavenger expression. Across the landing from them, Queen Glacier sat in her cage staring out onto the winding ramp leading to the landing, her snout wrapped tightly with several lengths of thick chains. She looked none too happy to be Blister's prisoner, and had shown as much when she'd severely scratched a couple of the guards that captured her before she could flee back to her kingdom. It had been three days since the peace meeting and Smolder could still see the dried blood encrusted on the tips of her spikes.

Which was something Smolder still didn't understand. Why wasn't he dead yet?

"Why do you think Blister spared us?" he asked Flower for the hundredth time.

The little scavenger looked over at him, cocking her head. "Hobble tibble," she said.

"Certainly she doesn't like me—we royal siblings have never been fond of each other. It would be much simpler for her to just kill me and eliminate the only other member of the Sandwing royal family. She wouldn't have to worry about anyone competing for her throne. Unless she has dragonets, which I don't see happening anytime soon." He shuddered. "I don't envy the poor, unhatched souls who must call Blister 'mother'."

"Frobble?"

"Does she take pity on me? Hmm. She's not as heartless as Burn, true, but that's not saying much. Perhaps she thinks she can use me somehow, though for what, I don't know. I can't lead armies or concoct schemes—at least, not very well. All I can do is take care of scavengers and avoid getting killed."

"Dibble tuddle foo."

"Why she kept you alive is what I want to know. I was certain after they plucked you from my back that it would be the last I'd see of you before you were dropped down some soldier's gullet. Instead she locked you up next to me. Does she think you're her pet, her grotesque plaything? Maybe Burn's had more of an influence on Blister than I thought."

"Piddle. Frobble piddle."

Smolder sighed. "Yes, you're right, no point in wasting words on it now." He gazed through the bars of his cage at Glacier, whose icy white scales glimmered even in the darkness. "What about her? My bet is on Blister ransoming her back to the Icewing royal family, probably for treasure or their allegiance. She probably wants payback for all the support Blaze pulled away from her during the war, not to mention keep the northern desert away from the Icewings."

Flower yawned, her little mouth closing with a high-pitched squeak.

"I know, I know, I'm rambling again. There's nothing else for me to do in this wonderful abode. Maybe Blister plans to torture me to death via boredom. If so, she's doing a fine job of it." Now Smolder yawned, his gaping maw dwarfing Flower's. He settled his head on his front claws, licking his snout with his forked tongue. His stomach growled audibly. He hoped the guards hadn't forgotten about their meal times again.

As if the guards had suddenly acquired Nightwing mindreading powers, Smolder heard the sound of the tower door opening. He heard multiple pairs of claws clomping up the ramp. Smolder flicked his tongue. This certainly didn't seem like an ordinary dinner run. So it had to be…

The sleek body of his sister appeared at the top of the ramp. Blister stood, flanked by a pair of guards carrying spears. She was stoic, her gaze giving away none of her thoughts.

"If it isn't my warm, loving sister," said Smolder. He stretched his limbs as far as the cage would let him. "What brings you to our tower-top club?"

Blister's nose twitched, though he couldn't tell if it was amusement or annoyance.

"Even in a cage you keep up with your immature gaffs. I'm seriously regretting not gagging you earlier," she said. Definitely annoyance.

"Fribble?"

"And your pet." Blister glared at Flower, who stared back innocently. "I will never understand why you've kept her for the past twenty years."

"I'm mysterious that way, sister. It's my specialty," Smolder said with a smug grin.

She snorted, before turning to the guards. "Bring him out. It's time he and I had a chat."

"I'm flattered, Blister. After three days in this cage I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."

Cautiously the guards unlocked the cage, their spears held dangerously close to Smolder's snout. They reached in and yanked him out, ignoring his yelp as he stumbled on the smooth tower flooring. They pushed him in front of them and stayed back, eyes on Blister.

"Come," she said as she turned and proceeded down the ramp.

Smolder craned his neck, popping out the kinks that had accumulated over several days of inaction. He looked around, spotting Glacier, who sat staring intently, her stark blue eyes drilling deep into him.

"Brrr," he said. "If eyes could kill, Glacier would have frozen me to death by now. What do you intend to do with her, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"It's none of your business. Now shut up. I've had enough of your pointless blathering."

They clomped down the ramp and out of the tower; Smolder had to stop for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the blinding assault of the midday desert. Impatient, Blister snapped at him to keep moving. Still blinking blearily, Smolder complied as they headed into Burn's Stronghold.

 _Blister's Stronghold now,_ he thought. _Huh. Doesn't have the same ring to it._

They headed through a myriad of corridors, turning left and right, going up a ramp once. Finally they came to what Smolder assumed to be their destination: a wide patio overlooking the main courtyard. Below him Smolder saw groups of servants and soldiers bustling to and fro, going about the list of tasks they'd been given since Blister's ascension. Above him he saw more dragons, some coming in with packages or prey, others going out on patrols or courier runs. A small table laden with snacks and small treats sat next to the edge, flanked by two Sandwing dragonets with palm-frond fans larger than they were. They began fanning languidly as Blister approached.

"Sit," Blister ordered, motioning him to follow. Seeing no other option, Smolder sat across from his sister, eyes down on the table. The bowls of dried peppers and fried lizards looked and smelled delicious, but he didn't dare take a bite until Blister made it clear he should.

Silence settled between them, broken by the swish of the fans and the voices of dragons down in the courtyard. Blister sat stock-still, black eyes scanning the courtyard, wings tucked neatly against her sides. The sun shone on her sandy scales, illuminating the black diamond pattern running down her back. Smolder blinked. Under the midday glare, she looked regal, proud. She looked…like mother. Like Queen Oasis.

He fidgeted, waiting uncomfortably for whatever chat she had in store for him. He was debating whether he should take a bite of the food anyway when she finally spoke.

"The prophecy was false, wasn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"The Nightwing prophecy," she said. "The one about the so-called 'dragonets of destiny' coming to save Pyrrhia from me and my sisters. It was fake all along. The Nightwings—Morrowseer—lied to us. Lied to me."

"Huh," was Smolder's only reply. He flicked his tongue again, tasting the air for a possible sense of where this conversation was going. All he got was the dry desert wind.

Blister turned her sharp gaze on him. "Those wretched dragons…Morrowseer told me I was the chosen one. He said the prophecy foretold the dragonets choosing me for the next Sandwing queen." She hissed, her scales virtually shimmering with anger.

"I should have guessed the first time I met the dragonets at Coral's palace. Morrowseer's 'traitor' was a bumbling idiot who couldn't find his tail in the dark, let alone convince his friends to choose me. The 'backup dragonets' were no better. They did it just to get my help. To make my Sandwings clear a new home in the rainforest for their pathetic, incompetent selves.

"Well, who's laughing now? My scouts tell me Morrowseer is dead, and I've seen neither scale nor horn of him since our meeting weeks ago at the Bay of a Thousand Scales. His prophecy was camel spit, nothing more. And it seems the rest of Pyrrhia will realize that sooner or later."

She lapsed into silence. Smolder looked away, wondering if he could say something that wouldn't get his tongue cut out.

"It doesn't matter," Blister continued before Smolder could open his mouth. "I won the throne anyway, using my skills and smarts. That will show the Nightwings who the superior dragons are. In the meantime, it seems the other tribes aren't so keen on learning that fact."

Smolder perked up. "The other tribes?"

"Yes. Though really it's only the Icewings right now. Even with their queen as my prisoner, they refuse to give up the northern desert that rightfully belongs to me. That's going to change very soon."

She gave him the creepiest grin Smolder had ever seen.

"Really, this is all so fascinating, sister," he said, feigning a lighthearted laugh, "but what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Blister plucked a pepper from a bowl, munching thoughtfully on it.

"I don't know if you've realized, Smolder, but you and I are the last remaining members of the Sandwing royal family."

His breath caught in his throat. "W-wait. Blister, you aren't saying—"

She wrinkled her snout and glared at him. "Not like _that_ , brother. You're unbelievable. I have no interest in dragonets right now. Even if I did, you would be the last dragon I would ever consider."

He breathed a sigh of relief. Blister huffed and continued.

"What I meant to say was this: now that the war is over, and you aren't cowering behind Burn's fat rear anymore, I feel that it's time to…make up for the things that have happened between us. You think I want to have you killed, whether for allying with Burn in the war or for simply being annoying while we were growing up. The truth is executing you would do nothing to help with my current situation."

"Really? Er, of course! Definitely would not help," said Smolder hastily.

"The Sandwing royal family was nearly destroyed by this war, and I have no wish to further decimate it. While I certainly don't grieve for my sisters' deaths, that doesn't mean I want you killed. Rather, I think you can become quite a boon to my reign, if you can prove yourself capable enough."

"And what exactly would proving myself entail?"

Blister lifted her gaze to the horizon—the southern horizon.

"Do you remember the Sandwing who attacked my guards when I ordered them to arrest the dragonets? Her name is Thorn, and according to my scouts she runs a criminal gang called the Outclaws out of the Scorpion's Den. Has been for several years now. While I settle things with the Icewings, you will go to the Scorpion's Den with a contingent of troops. You will enter the town and request an audience with Thorn. When she's granted you access to speak with her, you will kill her and any Outclaws stubborn enough to fight you."

Smolder, who had been surreptitiously chewing on a fried lizard when he heard Blister's final statement, nearly choked on his food. He swallowed before answering, "I'm positive I didn't hear you right. Did you say you wanted me to _kill_ Thorn?"

She frowned. "Is something wrong? Do you know this Thorn?"

 _I don't just know Thorn,_ he thought. _I know her and Sunny. I also know of how slippery those two can be._ Despite nearly being killed by Burn for failing to capture them, Smolder couldn't help holding a bit of respect for the mother/daughter duo. It wasn't every day you met a dragon who would attack Burn's Stronghold in order to save her daughter.

"I've heard _of_ her," he said swiftly, hoping she wouldn't catch his lie of omission. "Pardon the pun, but she's been quite the thorn in Burn's side over the years."

He saw Blister roll her eyes. "Whatever. Go to the Den, kill Thorn and wipe out as many members of her gang as you can before they escape. No doubt they will escape—a group like theirs hasn't survived this long without knowing when to take cover. Once you've reinstated control over the Den, I want you to spread the news that I've put a bounty on any remaining Outclaws, and that I will handsomely reward the capture and return of any members of the gang. Make it _very clear_ that Thorn and her lackeys are criminals who need to be brought to justice for their crimes against the queen and the Sandwing tribe." Finally she turned to him.

"Does that sound like something you can handle?"

Smolder contemplated his options. On the one talon this looked like the perfect opportunity to escape—once he got to the Den he could simply vanish into the crowd, lose Blister's guards, and hopefully be out of the desert before Blister heard of his disappearance. He knew better than to believe his sister's kind words earlier. As soon as Blister found no further use for him, she would kill him. Even if she didn't, simply failing at the task would be akin to a death sentence, and Smolder was hardly confident in his fighting capabilities and leadership skills.

On the other talon, this seemed like too good of an opportunity for escape. Blister was many things (most of them bad), but careless was definitely not one of them. This had all the hallmarks of a trap, and Smolder had no intentions of seeing what lay on the other side of the bait.

"You seem uncertain, Smolder," she said. "Why don't I give you a demonstration? Maybe that will help you make up your mind."

Suddenly she turned to one of the guards. "Fetch Glacier and bring her to the courtyard."

"Glacier?" said Smolder as the guards hurried away. "What does she have to do with all of this?"

Blister winked at him. He really did not like that wink.

"You'll see. Follow me," she said, before extending her wings and diving off the balcony. Smolder looked after her apprehensively.

"Move it," said the remaining guard, prodding him in the back with the butt of his spear.

By the time Smolder landed next to Blister a sizeable crowd had gathered around the main courtyard. The servants and soldiers looked on, intrigued by their new queen's mysterious behavior. Whispers drifted among them; Smolder saw more than one dragon give him an odd look.

He turned around and realized they were standing next to the black obelisk that marked their mother's resting place.

 _That's ominous,_ he thought. _If I were a betting dragon, I'd bet half a dozen emeralds that what I'm about to see isn't going to be good._

Shortly afterwards four guards marched into the courtyard with Glacier boxed in between them, her snout still tied. She was absolutely blinding under direct sunlight. Smolder had to squint just to see her; judging by the looks on the faces of the dragons around him, he wasn't the only one. Blister was the only one who didn't seem bothered by the harsh glare.

"Mmmm," growled Glacier, who was breathing heavily through her nostrils. Smolder couldn't imagine how hot an Icewing would feel in this blistering heat.

"Greetings, Queen Glacier," said Blister, scorn dripping through her feigned politeness. "How has your stay been? Pleasant? I'd hope so. The Sandwings have always respected royalty. As soon as I discovered you'd be our guest I knew I had to reserve an entire tower for you to stay in."

Glacier growled some more, shaking her bound snout violently. A guard instantly slashed her in the side with his spear, drawing a line of blood that streamed down her bright scales. A muffled cry escaped her, and she lay doubled over in pain.

"Now now, Glacier," tutted Blister, "I thought I made it perfectly clear to you what the terms of your stay were. Until your tribe pledges its full allegiance to the Sandwing throne, it will have neither its queen nor the northern desert returned to it. So far my messengers have received no reply from your palace." She absently inspected a talon, flicking off a particle of sand.

"Perhaps your family isn't so keen on bringing you home?"

Glacier roared, though it looked pathetic more than anything with her snout bound shut. Blister laughed gaily.

"What's the matter? Afraid your beloved dragonets have forgotten about their poor mother, trapped far from home in the middle of the hottest desert in Pyrrhia?" Slowly she approached Glacier, her talons clacking menacingly on the smooth stones of the courtyard.

"Well, my dear friend, let me impart some information on you. I'm not the only dragon who wishes to see you dead. In fact, I've been making, shall we say, _arrangements_ with a certain Icewing. One who believes she deserves the throne more than you."

Glacier froze still as an ice statue, her blue eyes trained on Blister's black orbs. Glacier tried to say something, but it was too muffled for Smolder or any other dragon to hear.

"Yes. Her indeed. I must admit she's quite the schemer. She's like an icicle hanging over a dragon's head, ready to drop at a moment's notice and crack her skull open. In this case, that skull belongs to you, Glacier."

Suddenly Glacier lunged, swiping her serrated claws at Blister's snout. In a flash Blister ducked back as the four guards pounced on Glacier and held the Icewing queen down. She thrashed, trying to throw them off, but the weight of four fighting-fit Sandwings was too much for the lone queen to handle.

Gingerly Blister raised a claw to her snout. A single bead of blood glistened on the tip of her nose. Carefully Blister dabbed at the minor scratch, staining her talon with a drop of red. She bent down next to Glacier's prone figure and held the talon in front of her.

"You shouldn't have done that, Glacier. Because now I am angry. And do you know what I do when I'm angry?"

She walked around to the other end of the Icewing, where Glacier's whip-thin tail thrashed in agitation. Quick as a dragonbite viper Blister snatched Glacier's tail and held it up for everyone to see. Then, Blister gently laid a talon—the one still stained with her blood—on the sensitive weak area at the tip of the tail.

"I make absolutely sure that everyone knows not to mess with me," she said, her eyes flicking to Smolder's. Smolder stood rooted to the spot, too horrified to move.

Then, Blister sank her talon into Glacier's tail.

The Icewing screamed as loud as her closed mouth would allow, eyes scrunched shut in agony. She attempted to wriggle her way free but the Sandwing guards simply held her down even harder. Blister pressed harder, her talon drawing fresh blood, before dragging her talon up Glacier's tail, leaving a long, jagged scar of torn scales and flesh. Glacier howled even louder.

"What was that, Glacier? I couldn't quite hear you. Perhaps if I stated my intentions more clearly, you'd speak up."

She grabbed one of the guard's spears and placed its tip where her talon was. She pressed the steel head deep into Glacier and continued her torturous trip up her hind leg and across her back. Glacier was slamming her head into the stones now, her cries coming in panicked bursts as pain poured through her body.

"Still can't understand you, dear friend. I'm afraid you're a bit incoherent right now. No worries, I have just the solution for that problem."

As she neared Glacier's neck, Blister yanked the spear out of the wound—prompting another spasm from the Icewing—and then placed the tip of her barbed tail to the open wound.

"It's a special remedy known only to the Sandwings. What is its name again?"

She stabbed the barb into the wound. Glacier screamed, her voice hoarse, the whites of her eyes showing.

"Oh, right. Poison."

She knelt down and placed her mouth next to Glacier's ear. "Remember this the next time you think of taking the desert from its rightful owner," she whispered.

With that she pulled her barb from Glacier's neck. The Icewing collapsed onto the stones, sobs wracking her body as tears poured from her eyes. The entire left side of her body was now stained with trails of blood, painting her white scales like a mad artist's canvas. To Smolder's surprise, there wasn't much black venom in the area where Blister injected Glacier. A small amount of it appeared—an ink drop amidst the red—before disappearing swiftly as it entered her bloodstream.

 _Too little to kill,_ he thought, _but more than enough to be painful. Three moons, Blister did it on purpose. Glacier will be in agony for the next few days._

Blister stood and flared her wings, shouting, "All who wish to trifle with the Queen of Poison, come forth now and see what she does to those who oppose her!"

Her guards bowed low, chanting, "Queen of Poison! All hail the Queen of Poison!" One by one, the other Sandwings in the courtyard followed suit.

Blister turned her diamond shaped head toward Smolder. She smirked; he blanched. Escape was nowhere near as enticing anymore.

He didn't even _think_ about failure.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope this chapter wasn't too gruesome for you guys. I just wanted a change of pace after three chapters of mostly dialogue. So I figured having a window into what's happening in the Sandwing kingdom would help with that. Writing from Smolder's perspective was loads of fun, with all his wry humor. ^.^ I also liked the chance to show a bit more of Blister and her creepy schemes.

It will probably be a couple more chapters before the action I have in mind starts happening. I hope the dialogue-heavy chapters aren't too boring - do tell me if you find them so, or if you think anything else needs improvement. Hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and I look forward to your reviews!

~SpicyDog99


	5. Better Off With You

Better Off With You

His leg was on fire. It was on fire and he couldn't put it out, no matter how hard he tried. The pain seared through his fireproof scales, driving itself deep into his bones. He dug his claws into the dirt and bounded forward into the cold, brown murk, fire licking at his legs and tail.

"Where's the violent little monster I saw when you hatched? _That's_ the dragon we need for the prophecy."

Kestrel was there, the giant Skywing dogging his every step. He saw her crimson head out of the corner of his eye, and fear drove him faster. She was going to hurt him after failing at battle practice again. She was going call him a coward and knock him out for refusing to fight back.

"Kestrel, I don't want to fight! Just let me go," he said, his voice swallowed by the opaque fog that surrounded him. A claw swiped for his head and he leapt out of the way, nearly collapsing in agony as he landed on his burning leg.

"As for this one…" said Queen Scarlet as she loomed out of the fog, pointing a bejeweled talon at him. "Prepare him for the arena."

He swerved out of her reach and nearly ran straight into an Icewing, who was writhing on the ground, his face dissolving as black drops ate away at his scales. Fjord's screams tore at his ears; he ducked his head and ran on, hoping to leave it all behind.

"I didn't want to fight you. I don't want to kill anyone," he said, mostly to himself. "There's no monster inside of me…" He had to escape, had to escape! The pain was too much, if he could only find his way through this fog—

"I was not the bigwings I wanted to be. But it's all right now," said Reed as he passed. "Because you're back, and you should be our bigwings."

He shook his head. "No, no, go away! Sunny? Tsunami? Glory, Starflight, where are you guys?"

A shadowy hulk materialized out of the gloom, a smug grin on its face.

"On the contrary, I certainly _can_ make my prophecy happen however I want, considering I'm the one who made it up in the first place," said Morrowseer.

"Shut up! Just, shut up!" he screamed, eyes shut tight.

The fog parted. He skidded to a stop and opened his eyes.

"Moons above…"

Before him were his friends: Tsunami, eyes wide and bloodshot, mouth flecked with blood, her neck twisted almost all the way around; Glory, scales white with pain, her face a mangled mess of melted flesh and bone; the charred remains of Starflight, his shiny black scales covered in a coat of soot, eye sockets nothing but empty space; and Sunny, stuffed and mounted on a pedestal, her glassy green eyes staring lifelessly ahead.

He fell to the ground, curling into a shaking ball of scales. "G-get me out of here. Please…" he whimpered.

"Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn," said Blister, weaving her way through the bodies of his friends, a hissing dragonbite viper held in her claws, "two shall die and one shall learn…"

Voices whispered from the mist.

"…that you've failed your friends again…"

"…weren't there when they needed you…"

"…pathetic! You call yourself a dragonet of destiny? You can barely fight…

He was gasping now, sobs wracking his body as the fire ate its way up his leg. Blister, Morrowseer, Reed, Fjord, and Kestrel approached, forming a ring around him, whispering cruelly in his ear.

"…no way they can end this war. Not with _you_ messing things up."

"Aren't you a bigwings? Why can't you protect your troop?"

"…never could kill a dragon, even with your friends' lives on the line…"

The dragonbite viper wriggled its way out of Blister's grasp and landed on him, sinking its fangs into his neck. Its tail split, again and again, until a whole nest of vipers swarmed over him, biting down on every inch of exposed scale they could find. He screamed a long, never-ending scream as he felt his friends' dying agonies pour through him.

"Weak! Weak! You have no strength…"

"…on, Clay, hang in there…"

"…just threw your life away when you should have been protecting them…"

"…might die anyway. If his leg gets infected…"

He wailed, "Make it stop! I'm begging you, MAKE IT STOP!"

The harsh whispering mixed with the vipers' hissing. They intermingled, becoming a harsh dissonance consuming his soul.

"…all for nothing! Your death—"

"—your life—"

"—meaningless…"

"…useless…"

"…pointless…"

"…better off without you…"

Then a voice broke through.

"Stay with me. Please."

It couldn't be. Was it her? Was she there?

"We still need you. _I_ still need you."

It was her.

"Be strong. You're the bigwings. You can do it."

The danger that was safe. The peril that was salvation.

He extended his claws and waded through the goopy murk, pushing past the cascading mud. The whispers faded as he swam for the surface.

He broke through.

* * *

His eyelids were as heavy as rocks, glued to his eyes like snails to a leaf. His tongue felt thick and swollen; his mouth tasted like the mud that plagued his nightmares. A low moan escaped him as pain flared up in his leg. He gathered his strength and cracked his eyes open.

Blurred images, muffled voices. Two figures—no, three. All of them were gathered around him. As the light lessened and his eyes adjusted, he spotted colors. Light blue, green. A coppery orange in front of him.

"Clay? Can you hear me?"

She was there. The dragon who had dragged him from his nightmares. The wings of fire that had scoured the darkness from his mind.

"Peril?" he said, his voice hoarse from disuse.

Wings enveloped him as Peril nuzzled him with her snout. The searing heat of her body couldn't have been any more welcoming after the cold murk of his nightmares.

"Peril, wh—"

"Shhh," she said. "It's alright. You're OK now." She lifted her head toward one of the healers. "Go get the others, tell him he's woken up."

She turned back to him as the wingbeats of the other dragon faded. Under the shadows off her wings, the copper of her scales appeared dull. Her blue eyes were dim, laced with fatigue. She was a far cry from the powerful, menacing dragon who effortlessly dispatched opponents with a touch of her claws. Clay felt a stab of guilt. He had done this to her, to the dragon he loved, yet still she stayed by his side.

"Peril…what happened?"

She stepped back, pulling her wings to her side. Clay immediately missed the warmth.

"How much do you remember?"

More than he wished, to be honest. He remembered the peace meeting, remembered seeing all three queens gathered around the obelisk. He remembered Burn dying as the dragonbite viper's venom killed her, remembered the viper going straight for Starflight. He remembered hurtling through the air before anyone could stop him, shoving Sunny and Starflight out of the way. He remembered the feel of the fangs as they slid between his scales.

Then…nothing. Nothing but darkness. Nothing but pain.

"The viper was going for Starflight. I…I didn't think. Just tackled him, and—" A cough wracked his body. His throat felt as dry as the Kingdom of Sand.

"Here," said a voice. Clay looked up to see a Rainwing holding a bowl of water in front of him. He greedily lapped up the water, reveling in its feel as the cool liquid slid down his gullet. With his thirst slaked, he looked around, seeing the interior of the healer's hut in the rainforest. Weak light leaked in through the window; Clay guessed that it was early in the evening.

"Thanks. I tackled Starflight and Sunny to get them away from the viper. And then…" He closed his eyes.

"It's alright," said Peril. "You don't need to talk about it."

"Did anyone else get hurt? What happened afterwards?"

Peril looked away, her expression sullen. Before she could answer a voice echoed through the trees.

"Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

A bundle of golden scales hurtled through the entrance of the hut and straight into Clay, nearly bowling him over.

"You're alright, you're alright! You have no idea how worried I was when I saw you get bit. It was so scary—we all thought you were a goner. And then Peril came straight out of nowhere and saved you, and it was just so…Mph!" said Sunny as she shoved her snout into his chest and nestled herself against him. "I missed you Clay."

"Missed you too, Sunny," said Clay, looking sheepishly at Peril, who smiled slightly at the reunion. He carefully disengaged himself from Sunny, who nevertheless refused to leave his side.

"He's awake? Clay!" said Glory as she rushed in, her scales blossoming into a pink so bright she put Jambu to shame. "I knew you'd make it. Everyone thought you were dead for sure, but I knew it'd take more than a lousy viper to ground our bigwings!"

"This coming from the Rainwing queen who spent half of her waking hours in this treehouse, pestering the healers to death with questions about your condition," said Starflight as he came in behind Glory with Fatespeaker at his side. Glory shot him a glare, before she realized he couldn't see it and just rolled her eyes.

"How's your leg doing? Is it giving you any trouble?" she said as the two Nightwings sat down next to her.

"It hurts a bit," he said, turning to see his injury for the first time, and almost regretted it. The scales on his leg were still mangled by Peril's heat, blackened or missing in certain locations. Mud was caked all over the wound; he wondered just how painful it would have been without the mud to dull the pain. He couldn't see an ounce of the black viper venom, though, or feel its presence in his body. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"We can get you some more mud if you need it," said Fatespeaker.

"Naw, I'm fine. It's nothing I can't handle."

Suddenly he heard a whoosh of wings, and a blue figure landed heavily at the entrance to the treehouse.

"That, on the other hand…" said Glory, who looked pityingly at Clay as she stepped out of the way of the furious Seawing, who marched up to Clay and promptly cuffed him over the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" he said, rubbing the spot Tsunami hit him.

" _That_ is for being the biggest squid-brained idiot this side of Pyrrhia! Why in the world did you think it was a good idea to throw yourself at a dragonbite viper? You have fireproof scales, Clay, not _venom_ proof scales. Do you realize how lucky you are to be sitting here talking to us, right now, instead of lying dead in the middle of Burn's Stronghold?"

Clay almost smiled. He'd missed Tsunami's bossy voice a lot more than he thought he would. "Yeah. I didn't exactly, uh, think before I acted."

Tsunami's nostrils flared. She looked remarkably like an enraged water buffalo.

"Gee, you think?"

Clay sighed. "I'm sorry I worried all of you. It's just," he said, turning to Starflight and Sunny, "I don't think I could've lived with myself if I'd seen either of you die from that viper."

"It's fine, Clay," said Sunny. "We know you were only trying to protect us."

"Exactly," said Peril, looking pointedly at the still fuming Tsunami. "He was only trying to protect you."

Tsunami glowered a moment longer, before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, I'll stop. Glad you didn't die, Clay. Then I _really_ would have been mad."

"As if you aren't already," muttered Glory, who yipped in pain when Tsunami stomped on her tail.

"So…how long was I out?" asked Clay.

"A…a week," said Peril.

A week! He would have leapt straight off the leaf bed if it hadn't been for his leg.

"A week since the peace meeting…speaking of which, how did it go? Who's the queen of the Sandwings?"

No one said anything. No one _needed_ to say anything—Clay could clearly see the answer in the expressions on their faces.

"Blister, huh? Moons above," he said, "things went a lot worse than I thought they would."

"It's all in the past now," said Glory, "it's not like we can change it or anything."

"But now that you're awake things will get better," said Sunny. "We have our bigwings back now, so we can start thinking about our next—"

"Queen Glory! Queen Glory!"

A Rainwing guard rushed into the now rather crowded treehouse, his blowgun clasped in his front claws. He swiftly bowed before Glory, before saying, "We've found two Nightwings who were trying to enter the forest."

"Two Nightwings?" said Glory. "And neither of them is on the list?" Clay saw Starflight perk up instantly.

"No, Your Majesty. We've put them to sleep—would you like to go see them for yourself?"

She opened her mouth, but then hesitated. She turned to Clay.

"I have to see what this is about, Clay. I'm sorry I can't stay any longer."

"I can come along," he said. "My leg doesn't hurt that much."

"No, Clay," said Peril in what was the sternest voice he'd ever heard her use with him. "You've just woken up. You're in no condition to go flying around the rainforest yet. Right?" She looked at the healer.

"Well, if he says he can handle the pain in his leg, then maybe—er, I mean, no! He definitely needs more bed rest," said the healer as Peril's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Clay couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, Peril, if you insist."

"I should probably go with Glory," said Tsunami. "If these two Nightwings are a threat to the Rainwings then I need to know so I can prepare them."

"I'll go too," said Starflight, "and Fatespeaker as well."

"I'll stay with you, Clay," said Sunny. "I bet you could use the company, and I can tell you what's been happening while you were out. Besides, Peril needs some food and rest—she's barely left your side since we got back from the peace meeting."

"I told you already, I'm _fine_. I can watch over Clay," Peril protested.

Sunny gave the Skywing a disbelieving look. "When was the last time you had a decent meal, Peril?"

"It's not import—"

"Or the last time you got a good night's sleep? Nodding off next to Clay doesn't count."

Peril groaned, rubbing her face with a claw. She certainly looked exhausted. Clay decided he couldn't let Peril abuse herself trying to care for him.

"Just go, Peril. I'll be alright. If I need anything, Sunny can help me with it."

Reluctantly, Peril nodded and headed out of the treehouse with the rest of the dragonets.

"Was she really here all four days?" Clay asked Sunny.

"Yep," she replied, "and she refused to leave, except to go hunting once or twice. And only when Tsunami or Glory ordered her to."

"Wow. I never thought I would cause this much trouble when the viper bit me. How did she get to the peace meeting? I don't remember seeing her along the walls."

"Beats me. She appeared out of nowhere, like that comet we saw the night of the peace meeting…"

The evening light faded as Sunny filled Clay in on everything that had happened after he'd passed out: Blister killing Blaze, their escape from Burn's Stronghold ("Blister's Stronghold now," she said forlornly), and the events of the past week.

Tsunami had been attempting to train the Rainwings for any future confrontations between them and Blister's forces, with Riptide stepping in to help. Glory was busy maintaining a shaky peace between the Rainwings and Nightwings; Deathbringer shadowed her protectively, despite her insistence that she didn't need protection. Starflight, with the assistance of Fatespeaker and a newly healed Webs, was searching for any scrolls or messages that might help them gain insight into Blister and her plans. Thorn had returned to the Scorpion's Den to check in on her Outclaws after Sunny reassured her that she and her friends would be fine. While she talked Clay devoured an entire pile of fruit that the healers had brought in, his week-long coma racking up an impressive appetite. It wasn't as satisfying as a cow (or three) but it helped stave off the gnawing hunger.

When Clay asked Sunny what she'd been doing, she shrugged and said, "I've been helping out where I can, mostly." She fell silent, her previously chipper smile disappearing.

"What's wrong, Sunny?"

"It's nothing," she said dismissively.

"You can tell me. I'm your bigwings, remember?"

She smiled. "OK, I guess. I just don't know what to do with myself. Tsunami has her claws full training the Rainwings and Glory has hers full with the Nightwings. Starflight's been poring over scrolls with Fatespeaker—apparently their trying to work out a way he can read the scrolls just by touching them, but for now she just reads them aloud to him. They all have their roles. And you have yours, as bigwings."

Clay could see where this conversation was going. "Listen, Sunny, you—"

"Oh, save me the lecture Clay. I've already heard it plenty of times from everyone else."

He blinked. "You have?"

The little Sandwing looked away, wrapping her wings tightly around herself. Clay caught a glimpse of guilt in her eyes.

"The first night after we got back from the peace meeting was…difficult. For me especially. I don't want to talk about it, Clay. All you need to know is that things were settled, and I'll be staying and helping out however I can."

Clay started. Staying…had she tried to leave? He wanted to ask her more, but the look on her face dissuaded him.

He yawned, big and deep. He hadn't realized how tiring all the talking had been. It certainly hadn't felt like much.

"You should get some rest, Clay," said Sunny when she saw his head drooping. "You still have a ways to go before you're bright as new again." She left his side, her warmth fading as she went.

"If you need anything just ask one of the healers. They'll take care of you." She flared her wings as she left the treehouse, preparing for takeoff.

"Sunny."

As she turned to look back at him, a voice echoed in the back of his head.

 _…better off without you…_

He knew what Sunny had gone through, for he had dealt with nearly the same exact thing in his nightmares.

"Thank you, for staying with us. Whatever happened while I was out, I'm glad that you decided not to leave us because of it."

A hint of a smile returned to her snout.

"No. Thank _you_ , Clay. For staying with us and being our bigwings."

With that she turned and took off into the dusk.

* * *

 **A/N:** And Clay's back! It only took a week but he managed to pull through an injury that could have (and, let's be real, probably _should_ have) killed him. The beginning of this chapter was a bit dark, I'll admit. I wanted to show psychologically the pain Clay was going through while he was unconscious in a way that would relate to his fears and weaknesses. I figured a nightmare scene based in a _mud_ world would be unnerving, as normally Clay associates mud with good things, not bad. After that it was a matter of finding the things he fears most, namely being unable to protect his friends from harm. I really wanted a deeper Clay scene near the start of this story, mostly because after _The Dragonet Prophecy_ Clay was sort of shafted when it came to characterization. I'm hoping I can give our favorite, lovable Mudwing a bit more time under the limelight.

Once again, any and all reviews and criticisms are appreciated. From this point forward I aim to make the story more action-oriented. So far it's mostly been dialogue; I'm starting to feel like a broken record to a small extent. XP Hopefully after chapter 6 more stuff will begin happening. Spoiler: the rainforest isn't going to be nearly as peaceful as it used to be.

~SpicyDog99


	6. Dragons of Destiny

Dragons of Destiny

The Rainwing guard led them through the trees to the western stretches of the rainforest, north of the animus tunnels and the Nightwing camp. Glory followed him, turning her scales dark green and brown to blend in with the forest, while keeping the tip of her tail a bright yellow so that her friends could follow her. They flew swiftly, silence hanging between them, as they winged toward their destination and the potential trouble that was there.

The sun was setting as the guard descended through the trees and alighted on the forest floor. Light filtered weakly through the canopy, casting an otherworldly glow on the ferns and bushes of the undergrowth. Glory's claws sunk into the soft silt as howler monkeys and toucans called through the trees, their shrieks an eerie farewell to the day. Ahead of them two more Rainwing guards materialized from their hiding spots in the branches. Two nets were suspended from a thick branch, one of which was larger than the other. As soon as they saw Glory the two guards grabbed the nets and gently lowered them to the forest floor.

"How big a dose did you give them?" asked Glory as Tsunami, Starflight, and Fatespeaker landed next to her.

"One small dart for her," said the guard, gesturing at the smaller net. "We needed three big darts before he would go down." He pointed at the other net, before shuddering. "Big guy almost managed to find me before the tranquilizer kicked in."

"The female should be waking up soon, Your Majesty," said another guard, her scales tinged with yellow. "Then you can get your answers."

Glory approached the captive Nightwings. The smaller one looked to be female, perhaps a year or two older than her. The other one was a big male, his snores rumbling loudly in the undergrowth. Both dragons looked emaciated. Glory cocked her head.

"Recognize these two beauties?" she asked her friends.

"Nope," said Tsunami. "I would have remembered a Nightwing like this one," she said, inspecting the burly male. "Probably would have posted extra guards around him too."

"What do they look like?" asked Starflight.

Suddenly Fatespeaker gasped.

"What is it?" said Glory, Tsunami, and Starflight in unison.

Fatespeaker stepped up to the smaller female, dreaded recognition on her face. Cautiously she poked a claw through the net and lifted the Nightwing's head for a closer look.

"I know this Nightwing. It's Fierceteeth!"

"My sister?" echoed Starflight, incredulity written all over his snout. "It can't be! I haven't seen hide or hair of her since the night the volcano exploded."

"And this is Strongwings, Mastermind's assistant," said Fatespeaker as she moved to the other net. "Star, shouldn't he be with your father? Why's he here with Fierceteeth?"

Tsunami growled. "Sunny said these were the dragons who abducted her after the Nightwings got to the rainforest. And the big one helped Mastermind experiment on the Rainwings! We should—"

"Hold it," said Glory, holding up a claw, "she's waking up."

Fierceteeth groaned. "Ack," she mumbled, "what was tha…"

Her eyes flew open when she saw her surroundings, most notably the net trapping her and the queen of the Rainwings standing not five feet away. Desperately she began thrashing about in the net, attempting to free herself. Tsunami pounced forward and landed on the Nightwing's back, holding her still. The guards balked and backed away; Glory saw one load his blowgun in preparation to shoot.

"Stop, Fierceteeth!" Glory shouted, using the authoritative voice that she reserved specifically for hostile Nightwings—a voice that she found herself using quite often.

The Nightwing didn't listen, trying unsuccessfully to roll herself out from under Tsunami, who only clamped down harder.

"It's OK, Fierceteeth," said Starflight, "we're not going to hurt you. Just stop fighting and Tsunami will get off you."

Both dragons shot him incredulous looks that he completely missed. Glory sighed. _This is going wonderfully already,_ she thought.

"If it isn't my disgrace of a brother," said Fierceteeth, squinting through the holes in the net at Starflight. "What happened to your eyes? Did Morrowseer scratch them out?"

"Maybe if you stopped flailing around like a maniac we would tell you," said Glory. "We'd like to know what you and your buddy Strongwings here are doing back in the rainforest. You know, after you kidnapped one of our _friends_. You have a lot of explaining to do, Fierceteeth, and your queen is short on patience."

Fierceteeth grimaced, baring her stained teeth. "You aren't my queen. The Nightwings will never accept a Rainwing as their leader. And I'm not answering anything until this lumping walrus gets off of me."

"Ha. No," said Tsunami.

"Tsunami, get off her," said Glory. "It's not like she can do anything from inside that net anyway."

"You can't be—"

" _Now._ "

Growling, Tsunami reluctantly released her hold on Fierceteeth, who sprang up immediately and hissed at her.

"Alright," said Glory, "I'm the one who'll be asking the questions here, and you're going to be answering them. First of all, what are you doing in the rainforest with Strongwings?" She changed her scales to a fiery orange color, hoping to appear more intimidating.

"It's none of your business," Fierceteeth replied.

"It certainly is my business. And if you refuse to answer I'll tell my guards to sedate you again and toss you out of the rainforest."

She glared defiantly at Glory, who matched her stare evenly.

"We're coming back to warn the Nightwings."

"About what?"

"It's for Nightwing ears only."

"We have Starflight and Fatespeaker here. They can relay your warning back to the tribe."

"They don't count," said Fierceteeth, eyeing Starflight viciously. "My warning is for _real_ Nightwings who care about the tribe."

"Like me?" said a voice from above.

"What the—" Glory looked up and spotted a familiar figure camouflaged in the dark canopy. "Deathbringer! You were not invited to this conversation."

"Hmm. I swear I've heard that statement before," he said as he glided down and landed next to her. "Seems like you need some help."

"Oh please. I have this under control. Does it look like I need you hovering over me right now?"

"Well, from what I've heard so far you seem to have trouble making this one talk," he said, looking at Fierceteeth's angry glare with a bemused smile.

"I'm not telling you, either," said Fierceteeth.

"See? Now go away," said Glory as she shooed Deathbringer away.

"Now now, just wait a minute." He walked up to Fierceteeth, who tried to bite him when he reached a claw out.

"Yeesh, feisty now, aren't you? You remind me of Glory when I first met her."

"Hey!" Glory shouted indignantly.

"You're a traitor, Deathbringer," said Fierceteeth. "You failed the tribe, and then abandoned it to elope with this imposter of a queen instead of returning to face your punishment."

"Imposter? Oh, no no no, Glory is not an imposter," said Deathbringer, shaking his head as if to a naïve hatchling. "Queen Battlewinner is very, ahem, _dead_ , if you didn't know. Exploding volcano and all that thrilling fun. We're currently stuck in the rainforest because our island has turned into a boiling pool of lava and none of the other dragon tribes in all of Pyrrhia can stand our mysterious, mindreading-and-prophecy-telling selves. Since Glory here earned herself the Rainwing throne before we got here, she has full control over the rainforest and any who dwell within it. In other words, she's our queen. And really, if I had a choice between her and Battlewinner's 'justice', I'd choose Glory any day." He winked at Glory, and, despite her best efforts, she couldn't quite halt the hint of pink that crept along the edges of her wings.

"That makes me, the devilishly-handsome Deathbringer, the queen's protector and right wing dragon. Since, you know, she owes her life to me—"

"Hey!" The pink along Glory's wings vanished instantly.

"—for all the _terrible_ assassination plots that I've singlehandedly stopped. It doesn't matter how you look at it, my dear Fierceteeth. I am a true member of the tribe—as are Starflight and Fatespeaker, of course. Which means you can rest easy telling us your warning."

He sat down, a smug smile on his snout. Fierceteeth frowned, obviously displeased.

"Fine. I'll tell you. If only to shut you up."

She straightened up, looking pointedly at all of them.

"Blister has attacked the Scorpion's Den."

Glory could practically hear the crickets chirping in the silence that followed. No wait, she _did_ hear crickets chirping. Night had arrived sooner than she'd thought; the light was dimming quickly. They needed to wrap this up quickly.

"What?" said Starflight.

"Have you gone deaf too, brother? Blister—the queen that _you_ were supposed to convince your friends to choose—attacked the Scorpion's Den three days ago. She sent her brother Smolder there with a large flight of troops, and they tore up the whole place fighting that cursed Thorn and her Outclaws. We escaped in the chaos after our guard left to join the fight."

"Why did Blister's forces attack the Scorpion's Den? Why did they attack the Outclaws?" asked Glory.

"You think I know? I've been locked in a dusty cell for a week and a half. The only thing I heard while escaping was Smolder shouting something fancy about Blister 'laying down the law' and 'bringing criminals to justice'. No way was I hanging around after that—I've had enough of being prisoner."

"Laying down the law? Bringing criminals to justice?" said Tsunami, giving Glory a dubious look. "That doesn't sound like the Blister we know."

Glory shook her head. "No, it doesn't. Blister is too selfish to truly care about her tribe."

"Did Thorn get out alive?" asked Starflight.

Fierceteeth turned her withering scowl on him. "Why do you care?"

"Well, she's…uh…"

"Our spy," interrupted Deathbringer.

"She is? Er, yes, she is," said Glory when she noticed Deathbringer winking at her stealthily.

"Seeing as how we're all square at the top of Blister's hit list, we thought it would be good to know ahead of time if she's found our location," he continued. "Seems like Thorn's cover was blown, though. Did you see her escape? We'd still like to establish contact with her."

Glory's heart hammered as Fierceteeth's eyes narrowed in suspicion. _If she guesses the truth,_ she thought, _she may kidnap Sunny_ again _and use her to get back at Thorn for killing Preyhunter and imprisoning her and Strongwings._

Finally Fierceteeth spoke.

"I didn't see her body. That's all I can say for sure."

Next to her, Glory could hear Starflight breathe a sigh of relief.

"Can't say the same for her thugs, though. Many of them are dead—I saw Smolder and his troops lining up the bodies of those they killed to show off to the Den's residents. They got that weird one with six talons on each claw. I'm glad he bit the dust," she said, rubbing her claws together as if she wanted to strike someone.

Glory heard Starflight inhale sharply. Strange. She didn't recall hearing of an Outclaw with six talons. Had Sunny mentioned him?

"Are you done asking questions? 'Cause I've had it with this stupid net." Fierceteeth growled and clawed at the net.

"Not yet," said Glory. "I have one more question, and you're going to answer it completely—no lying, no hiding stuff." Glory stepped up to Fierceteeth, keeping just outside the reach of her claws. Gradually she let her orange scales shift to a hot, angry red.

"Why did you kidnap Sunny and attempt to take her to Burn?"

Fierceteeth stared straight back at Glory. "Go spit on yourself, Rainwing."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that. What were you going to ask of Burn in return for giving her Sunny? Tell me now and I might consider letting you return to your tribe with an escort of guards. Refuse, and I'll send you back to the desert."

Fierceteeth hissed.

"Attack me now, and you'll learn firsthand what 'go spit on yourself' really entails."

The defiance faded from the Nightwing's eyes—Glory could imagine her remembering Vengeance and the rest of the Nightwings who had pushed the Rainwings too far and suffered because of it. She hoped Fierceteeth would remember that the next time she intended to hurt her friends or her tribe.

"We thought we could trade her for an army from one of the Sandwing sisters—an army that would help us take back our rainforest and save our tribe from your tyranny. Because the rainforest belongs to Nightwings and we won't let a Rainwing _dragonet_ rule over us."

Glory barked out a laugh. "That is the funniest joke I've ever heard a Nightwing tell. News flash: the rainforest belongs to the Rainwings, and their _queen_ has been plenty generous to your tribe. Too generous even, according to some of my subjects. Now do yourself a favor and shut up. We're knocking you out and taking you and Strongwings back to the Nightwing camp."

Before Fierceteeth could protest, a guard shot his tranquilizer into the back of her neck. Desperately she tried to rip out the dart, but her body relaxed and her eyes became unfocused as the tree frog venom within the dart went to work. A minute later she lay motionless in the net.

"Glad that's over with," said Tsunami.

"We should get back to the village," said Starflight. "The others need to know about this."

"Agreed," said Glory. She turned to the guards, who had gathered up the nets and were preparing for takeoff.

"Take these two back to the Nightwing village. Post two guards on Fierceteeth and four—oh alright, Tsunami, _five_ —on Strongwings. Report to me immediately if they do anything remotely suspicious. Deathbringer, go with them and make sure they don't cause trouble."

He deadpanned. "Not even a 'thank you' for the help I've been? Tsk tsk, Glory, you are a hard one to please."

"Aren't you sour today, Mr. I'm-So-Good-At-Everything? Meet us back at the healer's hut when you're done; we're having a meeting with everyone to sort out all of this. If you're fast you might get a pat on the head." She ignored his pout and turned to takeoff.

As she soared into the air, Glory overheard Deathbringer whispering conspiratorially to Starflight. "She's just jealous of my charming personality. Did you see the way your sister caved to my demands? By the end I had her eating out of my claw."

"Really?" said Starflight, a bit too loudly. "I'm sure Glory wouldn't mind hearing about your char—"

"Shush. I said nothing."

Glory couldn't help but smile.

* * *

The news did not go over well with Sunny.

"I should have known Blister would do something like this! She saw mother attack her guards at the peace meeting. I shouldn't have let mother go—you sure she made it out of there, Starflight?"

"All Fierceteeth said was that she didn't see Thorn's body," he replied.

"Then she's probably hiding out somewhere in the Kingdom of Sand. That's what she'd have her Outclaws do. Did any others make it out?"

"Some of them did," said Glory. "Fierceteeth mentioned seeing a few of them escaping."

"Sunny," said Starflight hesitantly, "Six-Claws didn't make it."

Sunny flinched. "What?" she said numbly.

"Fierceteeth saw Six-Claws' body among the dead. I…I'm sorry, Sunny."

Six-Claws! Finally it rang a bell—he was the Outclaw who Sunny met when she first entered the Scorpion's Den, and had helped Thorn rescue her when she'd been abducted and taken to Burn's Stronghold. Glory chided herself for forgetting someone so important to Sunny.

Sunny clenched her jaw tight. Her voice wavered as she said, "Why didn't he run? That's what mother would have ordered him to do. 'Act smart, stay alive, stick together but _don't be an idiot_.' Instead he stood and fought against a force too large for him to—ach! That snail-brain!" She leapt up and prowled around the healer's hut, anger and grief visible in her every step. For a fleeting moment she looked like Thorn—fierce and fiery, tough as nails, yet caring for those under her wing.

Then the illusion vanished, and Glory was left looking at Sunny's small, sad figure.

"Did Qibli make it?" she asked hesitantly, scared of the answer. Glory remembered this name. Now _there_ was a dragonet who could teach Deathbringer a thing or two about being overprotective, if Sunny's descriptions of him were anything to go by.

"Fierceteeth didn't mention any Outclaw dragonets," said Starflight. He tugged nervously on one end of his blindfold. "Who knows where he could be?"

"As long as he isn't dead or in Blister's clutches, he'll be fine. I have faith in him," said Sunny, smiling faintly. "Odds are he's sticking close with mother, thinking he needs to protect her."

"We should search for Thorn," said Tsunami. "I'm not going to sit around while my friend's mother is hunted by the most vicious dragon in Pyrrhia. Besides, if Blister gets her claws on Thorn then she's going to use her against us."

"How would we search for her?" asked Starflight. "The Kingdom of Sand is enormous—it would take forever to find any dragon in the desert, let alone a Sandwing who's actively trying to avoid detection."

"Do you think we can reach her some other way?" said Clay, his injured leg covered in a fresh coat of mud. "We have a dreamvisitor, Sunny. You can find out where your mother is and if she needs any help."

"Though there isn't much we _can_ do from here," said Peril. "Starflight is right. Thorn will be in hiding, and unless she either crosses the Claws of the Clouds Mountains or reaches the animus tunnels, she won't be able to get back to us, and we won't be able to get to her."

Sunny straightened up.

"My mother will be fine—if she's managed to survive this long without getting caught, then I don't think Blister will catch her anytime soon. She wouldn't want us to worry about her. She'd want us to worry about Blister."

Then she hesitated. "I hope Blister hasn't guessed that Thorn is my mother. Even if she hasn't she'll definitely know that Thorn is helping us, and that will make her a target. I don't think we'll be getting any help from mother or her Outclaws. We're on our own."

Silence fell.

"Darn it," said Deathbringer, who'd just returned from the Nightwing camp (and received no pat on the head, much to his chagrin). "And here I was hoping we'd actually get to implement Thorn as a spy."

"Didn't you make that story up on the spot?" said Glory.

"That doesn't mean we can't turn it into a reality now, does it? A spy would be very helpful in shedding light on Blister's next move." After a moment Deathbringer's face fell and he waved a claw dismissively.

"Forget about it. It won't work with the way things are now."

"Speaking of Blister's plans," said Starflight, "Webs overheard something while he was out scouting the Mud Kingdom earlier today." He nodded to the older Seawing, who stood near the back of their little huddle.

After Blister gained the throne, the Talons of Peace was disbanded—neither Webs nor Riptide heard anything from Nautilus or the rest of the organization during the days after the peace meeting. While Riptide quickly volunteered to help Tsunami train the Rainwings, Webs ended up joining Starflight and Fatespeaker in their endeavor to collect information on Blister, going out of the rainforest to find any scrolls or tidbits of information that would help them. Sunny had protested at first, saying that Blister had tried to kill Webs once and would likely try again, to which he'd replied, "I'm your last remaining guardian. Kestrel and Dune gave their lives to save the five of you from the likes of Blister. Helping out is the least I can do."

"Well? What'd you hear?" said Tsunami brusquely. Glory doubted Tsunami would ever find it in her to forgive Webs. The fact that Tsunami was obviously in love with Webs' son (despite all her protests to the contrary) did not lessen her hatred of their former guardian.

Webs flattened his gills, apprehension in his eyes. Glory had a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Queen Glacier never returned to her kingdom. It's been four days since the meeting, yet there have been no reported sightings of her or the Icewing escort she had with her."

Glory raised her eyebrows. "No Queen Glacier? Hmm. I don't remember seeing her while we were escaping. Did any of you see her?"

She saw shaking heads all around the treehouse.

"You'd think Glacier wouldn't be so keen on hanging around without Blaze," said Tsunami. "My guess is Blister got her before she could hightail out of there."

"What else did you hear, Webs?" asked Sunny.

He scraped a webbed claw along the floorboards.

"I've only heard rumors about this…but something seems to have happened at Glacier's palace. So far as I've heard, there's been a revolt—someone has ousted Glacier's mate and dragonets."

"Really?" said Deathbringer. "That changes many things."

"Do you know who it was, father?" said Riptide, who sat next to Tsunami. Glory had noticed Tsunami acting less and less guarded around Riptide ever since he'd begun helping her train the Rainwings.

Webs shook his head. "Very few leads, I'm afraid. The only name I've been able to track down is 'Icicle'."

"Icicle?" said Starflight. "Queen Glacier's niece?"

Webs nodded. "I don't know if Icicle was responsible for this or not, and until more news comes in there's no way to tell. Whatever the case, something has happened with the Icewings—they've pulled out of the northern part of the Kingdom of Sand, and have returned back north to the ice fields."

No one said anything for a while as Webs' news sunk in.

Clay shifted uneasily. "This seems like too much of a coincidence."

"You don't say," said Tsunami. "Sounds like more of Blister's scheming to me. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she had something to do with this revolt."

Riptide nodded. "Maybe she plans to invade the Ice Kingdom—or have someone who will follow her orders ruling over it."

"She's removing her enemies one by one," said Glory, green spreading through her scales. "First the Outclaws, in the Kingdom of Sand. Then the Icewings to the north of her territory. At this point there isn't anyone in western Pyrrhia that's strong enough to oppose her.

"I think we're next."

She shuddered. She'd held every hope, however unlikely, that Blister would ignore the rainforest. That the vicious Sandwing queen wouldn't invade the other kingdoms, or, failing that, wouldn't invade the rainforest and bother with its "lazy" inhabitants. She'd hoped that, after all that the dragons of Pyrrhia had gone through in the twenty years of the War of the Sandwing Succession, they would finally have a few years of peace. She didn't need a "happily ever after" ending, as the scrolls they'd read under the mountain always seemed to have. She just wanted her friends and her tribe to be able to breathe easily, without worrying that someone was hunting them or invading them, as it had been during the war. Now, after hearing Fierceteeth's warning and Webs' report, those hopes were gone. Blister was coming to the rainforest, and everyone she loved was in danger.

A claw on her shoulder startled her out of her despair. She looked over to see Sunny's determined gaze.

"I know what you're thinking, Glory. I know things look bad." She turned to face all of them, taking a deep breath before beginning.

"Sooner or later Blister will come to the rainforest. She'll have an army of loyal Sandwings, and they'll all be well-trained after fighting a war for twenty years. The Nightwings are tough, and Tsunami has been doing well training the Rainwings, but even so I don't think we can beat Blister's forces by themselves. We need to find help."

"Where?" asked Glory. "I've gotten the distinct impression over the past weeks that none of the other tribes give a sloth's bottom about the Rainwings."

"This is about more than just the Rainwings. We've seen what Blister has done over the past several days. I think we can safely say that Blister isn't content with being queen of the Sandwings. She's going to keep spreading her power and control until all of Pyrrhia is in her claw. There won't be any peace as long as Blister is queen." A fierce look appeared in her eyes. Glory was reminded again of Thorn.

"So we need to fight Blister. And to do that we'll need the help of the rest of the tribes."

"Woah," said Fatespeaker after a moment of stunned silence, "who are you and what have you done with the real Sunny?"

Glory expected Sunny to get mad at the quip. Instead the little Sandwing broke into a smile.

"I know it's weird to hear me saying this. You all see me as the little, naïve dragonet who believes in the prophecy long after it was proven to be fake. You see me as the optimist who believes in the good of dragons, and wants to bring peace to Pyrrhia even without the prophecy.

"Well, I'm not going to lie. I'm still Sunny. I still believe in the good of dragons and I still want to bring peace to Pyrrhia." She curled her tail around her talons and sat up straight.

"I just think that the only way to bring peace now is to fight Blister and her ambitions for power. She's already hurt her own Sandwings, and she may have hurt the Icewings indirectly. I think that the only way we'll all be able to live peacefully—and happily—is without Blister as Sandwing queen. I know it won't be easy fighting her. I know that, if we do fight her, then dragons will die and their blood will be on my talons. But I think it's the only way to stop Blister from turning Pyrrhia into land where she rules and everyone suffers."

She looked around at all of them, her face serious. As the silence dragged on she spoke, uncertainly, "I understand if you don't agree with me, or if you don't want to start another war so soon after the last one ended. If any of you feel that fighting Blister is the wrong thing to do, just tell me, and we won't go through with this." She shifted her weight, waiting for their responses.

Tsunami scoffed. "Are you kidding? _Of course_ I agree with you Sunny. After all that Blister has done, there's no way I'm going to sit here and let Blister destroy Pyrrhia."

"Me too," said Clay. "I won't let her hurt any of you again."

"Count me in as well," said Starflight. Slowly everyone else nodded their heads, even Webs, who looked at Sunny with something akin to pride.

Finally Sunny turned to Glory. "Glory? What about you?"

She didn't want to go through with this. Sure, she'd never really cared about the prophecy and all its mumbo-jumbo about the five "dragonets of destiny" that would bring peace to Pyrrhia. But it wasn't the prophecy that made her hesitate—it was the thought of her beloved tribe, equipped with sleeping darts and Tsunami's hasty training, going up against Blister's forces. She doubted her Rainwings would escape virtually unscathed the way they did during their attack on the Nightwing island. She knew Sunny's points were true…but the last thing she wanted to see was her tribe suffering again.

Then she thought back to the night of the peace meeting. To the dragonbite vipers and Clay's near-sacrifice, to their blindingly narrow escape. To the Rainwings she'd brought with her, to their determination to defend their queen even if it meant breaking the tribe taboo of spitting venom on another dragon.

Her tribe loved her. Her tribe believed in her. They would follow her to the ends of Pyrrhia, and Glory had to repay that loyalty by doing what she believed was best for them all.

"Alright. I'm in. Where do we start?" Glory asked as she turned to Sunny.

Sunny looked thoughtful for a moment.

"How about the Mud Kingdom?"

* * *

That night, as two full moons rose high above the canopy of the rainforest, the dragonets made themselves a new prophecy. This prophecy had no words, did not rhyme or sound cryptic. It did not call for "wings of fire" or "five dragonets to end the fight". In all aspects, their prophecy was false, as false as the one Morrowseer had fabricated.

Yet the dragonets made it anyway—a prophecy that Blister would fall, that her quest for power would be stopped. A prophecy that they, the former dragonets of destiny, would rise from the ruins of their failure and redeem themselves by uniting Pyrrhia against Blister's tyranny. A prophecy that they would stand together, back to back and wingtip to wingtip, until they defeated Blister or died trying.

It would be a long, hard prophecy, one that would take years to fulfill. Many beloved dragons would likely perish before its fulfillment, and even then peace was not guaranteed. But with a new prophecy—and a new destiny—in mind, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny looked to the coming dawn, not with dread, but with a renewed sense of direction and purpose.

They awoke as the Dragons of Destiny. They awoke under a war-torn sky.

* * *

 **A/N:** Whew, that was a long chapter. Originally I had planned to combine this and the previous chapter into one, but as you can see it would have been way too long. As you can tell this chapter is a big turning point for our five dragonets. They now seem themselves as taking on the adult role of opposing Blister's machinations. Whether or not they can accomplish this (and whether or not Pyrrhia believes they can accomplish this) remains to be seen.

Finals week is coming up, so updates may become sparse. I'll try to keep posting chapters as time allows, but don't count on anything too big. Once summer arrives and my schedule clears up I should have plenty of time to write.

Thanks for reading, and as always, any reviews and criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

~SpciyDog99


	7. Someone Worth Dying For

Someone Worth Dying For

Dawn arrived in the southern region of the Kingdom of Sand. The warm, orange glow of the sun bathed the cold sands as golden rays shot out across the dunes. The calls and hoots of the desert's night dwellers faded into silence as the sun's warmth increased to a burning heat. Updrafts shimmered, distorting the air, as two Sandwings flew low overhead. They were dirty and tired, their scales marred by numerous cuts and scratches crusted over with dried blood. They beat their wings quietly, voices silent, conserving strength and staying as stealthy as they could. A moonstone pendant hung from the neck of one Sandwing, an amber earring from the ear of the other.

Suddenly the Sandwing with the earring pointed off into the distance.

"Thorn, look! Water!"

The other Sandwing swung her head toward where her companion was pointing. "You sure about this, Qibli? The last two you spotted were dried up."

"Naw, I see water for sure. Looks like a river—I bet it leads to the ocean."

Thorn squinted. Sure enough she saw something twinkling through the sand beneath tall palm trees. She let out the breath she'd been holding. Finally she and Qibli could get some much needed rest.

"Alright. Let's go."

They banked and turned toward their target, pumping their wings quickly to cover the distance. A few moments later they pulled up and landed next to the muddy banks of a shallow creek filled with rocks and sand. Trees and bushes lined the creek, the vegetation providing a much needed relief from the heat. Thorn and Qibli quickly drank their fill from the creek. Though the water was filled with grit, it was cool and refreshing. Thorn savored the taste as dehydration's noxious roots receded from her mind.

Not once in the past four days since their escape from the Scorpion's Den had she and Qibli found a decent source of water. They had searched fruitlessly for oases and rivers as they zigzagged across the desert to evade the patrols chasing them. They'd chanced upon some large cacti two nights ago tapped them for their water stores; it had worked, but it still wasn't enough for a grown dragon and an energetic dragonet. Under normal circumstances the two of them would have been fine for weeks, but the brutal fight against Smolder and his troops had taken a lot out of both them, not to mention their non-stop flight to avoid capture. Even Sandwings had their limits.

Mentally Thorn cursed herself again as she thought back to the day Smolder had arrived at the gates of the Den requesting an audience with her on Blister's behalf, two flights of troops in tow. She should have run, right there; if she had she wouldn't have lost half her gang and been stuck here without the other half. She'd known Blister would be furious at her for interfering at the peace meeting, and it was only a matter of time before the Sandwing queen would find her base of operations.

And yet, she'd refused to run at first. She couldn't pinpoint a single reason why she'd marched out of her tent to confront Smolder and his troops in the central courtyard of the Den, cursing the snake to the moons and back and telling him never to show his face in her town again. Certainly she was still bitter at him for trapping her and Sunny in Burn's stronghold, though the events of the past week had kept her too busy to think much of him. She definitely resented his complete submission to Blister, and felt nothing but disgust for the royal Sandwing who had willingly traded his freedom for safety at the claws of his despot of a sister.

Perhaps the biggest reason, however, was to keep it all from going to waste. Thorn had fought long and hard to get the Den to its current state, transforming it from the squalid town of brigands and criminals she'd grown up in to a halfway decent trade center. After years spent fighting countless battles and dethroning numerous bandit lords and gang bosses, she had finally gathered her own group of loyal followers: the Outclaws, who fed the young and helpless of the Den and protected its inhabitants, while simultaneously retaining the freedom they cherished as thieves and ex-soldiers. Initially she had done it all to find Sunny, but as the years passed and the search for her missing dragonet dragged on, Thorn consoled her inner anguish by taking pride in what she'd accomplished.

And now, all of that had been taken away from her—by Blister, who had likewise ruined Sunny's dream of bringing peace to Pyrrhia. Thorn narrowed her eyes, seething. It hurt so much to see that monster destroying everything she and her daughter held dear and not have the power to fight back.

Qibli, who had drunk his fill, looked warily at the sky behind them.

"Do you think they spotted us? I thought we were hidden well under the sand, but it never hurts to be careful, is what I say. We should stay under the trees Thorn, maybe until noon."

Thorn shook her head. "We need to keep moving, Qibli. We still haven't found any of the others, yet. I'm thinking we should head east from here—we might find a couple of them near the mountains."

Qibli growled. "Who says we need the others? I'll protect you, Thorn. If any of Blister's crooks come anywhere close, I'll give them a sound beating!"

She cocked her head at the little dragonet. "Really? Didn't _this_ teach you anything about fighting against half a dozen dragons twice your size?" She bopped him lightly on the head, where a large, angry bruise sprouted behind Qibli's ears.

He winced in pain. "They got lucky, that was all."

"Of course. They were lucky enough to hurl you against a wall so hard you blacked out instantly and I had to fly you out of there."

Qibli ducked his head in embarrassment.

"But Six-Claws needed help," he protested. "He and the others were surrounded when Smolder ordered the attack. They weren't going to let Blister take the Den, and neither was I! The Scorpion's Den belongs to you, Thorn, and no one else."

Thorn paced along the bank, her claws leaving deep imprints in the mud.

"The Den does belong to me," she began slowly. "Nothing goes on in that town without my knowing. I have the final say on anything that happens to the Den. That includes abandoning the town when absolutely necessary."

She whirled around to face him. "Do you know how many soldiers Smolder brought with him? _Fifty,_ all of them well-trained and conditioned. Now, I have the utmost faith in the abilities of my Outclaws—including you, Qibli—but I'm not stupid. I know we can't fight a force that big head on. As soon as the soldiers attacked I told everyone to bail, not stand and fight."

"Six-Claws did," said Qibli, sticking his snout up, "and he took down a lot of Smolder's soldiers."

"Six-Claws is _dead_. What does that tell you about how well his plan of standing and fighting worked?"

Qibli quieted. He looked away, avoiding Thorn's intent gaze.

"Exactly. What's our motto?"

"Act smart, stay alive, stick together but don't be an idiot," Qibli recited perfectly.

Thorn nodded. "Correct. And 'don't be an idiot' means don't throw yourself at the next group of soldiers that come by."

Qibli's ears perked up. Thorn was about to ask what the problem was when she heard it too.

"Speak of the winged devils…quick, into the sand!"

"But Thorn, the trees can—"

"I'm not taking any chances. If they stop here for a drink too, then we're finished. Move it, Qibli, they're getting closer!"

They left the muddy banks of the creek and swept their claws through the sand, quickly digging holes and burying themselves. They kept their eyes and nostrils above the surface, the rest of their bodies completely hidden. Thorn scanned the skies, watching for a trace of yellow against the blue. The faint sound of beating wings got louder and more rapid—whoever those wings belonged to was flying fast. Shouting drifted in from the east. Blister couldn't see who it was, though; the blasted palm fronds were obscuring her view.

She glanced over at Qibli, who lay motionless, likewise following the noise. She prayed to the moons above that he'd have the sense to stay hidden if the dragons they were hearing landed nearby. She didn't fancy their chances if it came to a fight.

A whoosh of air, followed by the soft noises of claws skittering on sand. Suddenly a figure in the distance came stumbling into sight, sandy scales glinting beneath the sunlight, mouth open and panting. He swiftly ducked beneath the trees, hiding in the vegetation, as more dragons swooped overhead: Blister's troops, judging by the spears held in their claws. Thorn quickly shut her eyes, hoping Qibli had done the same. Their black eyes were the only thing that could give them away against the backdrop of sand.

"Where'd he go?"

"Think he went past that dune up ahead."

"Spread out and find him! That bounty isn't collecting itself."

Bounty? Were they chasing an Outclaw? Thorn hadn't gotten a good look at the Sandwing before he'd ducked out of view, but she was certain he wasn't an Outclaw. She would have recognized him.

Thorn lay for an eternity, listening as the soldiers' wingbeats faded into the distance. She waited a while afterwards, hearing nothing but wind whisking across the dunes and the creek burbling nearby. She cracked an eye open and scanned her surroundings. Not a wing or scale in sight. The soldiers had gone, and the Sandwing they'd been chasing was nowhere in sight.

She was about to get up when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. The Sandwing had reappeared close by, moving beneath the shadows of the trees toward the creek. Thorn heard the sound of a tongue lapping water. With the minutest of movements she lifted her head, sand particles trailing from her snout, and turned towards the newcomer. He had his back to her, but that didn't matter, for as soon as she saw the black diamond pattern running down his back she knew who it was.

Silently Thorn lifted herself to her claws and prowled toward her target, talons sinking soundlessly into the sand. She saw Qibli rise up to follow her, and motioned him to stay with a flick of her tail. Wings folded close, belly scraping the hot sand, she slowly closed the distance with the Sandwing, who had stopped drinking and sat back, panting in exhaustion from his escape from Blister's soldiers.

"Why," he said breathlessly, "why did I ever think this was a good idea?" He stood up and turned around.

Thorn pounced.

She tackled him square in the chest and sent him stumbling into the creek. They grappled and floundered, water and mud splashing over their scales and wings. Thorn grabbed the Sandwing and hurled him onto the bank before pouncing on him again, holding him down with her claws. Suddenly he rolled and spun her off him, throwing her to the sand while landing on top of her. A barbed tail swung toward her chest—Thorn squirmed out of the way and narrowly dodged the poisonous tip as it sank into the sand.

A blurred whirlwind of claws and teeth slammed into the Sandwing's side. Thorn rolled to her claws as she saw Qibli clawing viciously, doing his best to hold off the larger dragon's assault. Before he could overpower the little dragonet Thorn leapt atop the Sandwing. Together they held down the Sandwing, whose struggles gave out as he found himself gazing at a familiar face.

"Thorn!"

Thorn's snout distorted into a grimace of contempt. "If it isn't the slimy newt responsible for the death of half my Outclaws. What a coincidence, Smolder, meeting you out here."

"Uh, fancy meeting you out here too," he said with a nervous half-smile. "Nice to see you weren't, erm, hurt too badly. I mean, considering all the things that have happened lately, what with the attack on the Den and your escape—three moons, I never expected you and your gang to be _that_ tough! I thought two flights of troops would be more than enough; guess I deserve this for underestimating you again. Heh, that slash you gave me on my back still hurts like no other. Even more so, in this…ergh…rather undignified position…" He squirmed a bit under her claws.

Thorn's eyes narrowed. Smolder shook his head rapidly.

"Look, we got off on the wrong wing. First I try to capture you and your daughter for Burn, then I try to kill you for Blister—I'd completely understand any violent thoughts of dismemberment that you may have toward me. Of course, I'd greatly appreciate it if you _don't_ dismember me right now. I'd rather die intact, as meaningless as that may sound."

"I say we kill him," said Qibli, pushing his snout up besides Thorn's. "Six-Claws and the others are dead because of him. We're Outclaws. We don't let anyone mess with us and get away with it." He proceeded to glare menacingly at Smolder, who turned to him with a look of curiosity.

"Who might you be? I wasn't aware you had a son, Thorn."

She almost laughed out loud.

"I'm NOT Thorn's son!" shouted Qibli, looking strangely embarrassed. "I helped her and the other Outclaws hold the Den against your invasion. Would have given you all a real battering, too, if Thorn hadn't ordered the retreat."

"Really?" said Smolder skeptically, looking Qibli up and down. "I don't recall seeing you…"

"It's beside the point," said Thorn before Qibli could protest any further. "What matters is that you wronged the Outclaws, and now you're out here at the mercy of their leader, who you tried to kill. If you haven't guessed already, I'm not the forgiving type, and neither are my dragons." She brought her snout in close to Smolder's. He balked and tried to turn away, only for Thorn to reach out and yank his head back to meet her eyes.

"Give me one reason not to slit your throat right now, you pathetic excuse for a Sandwing."

The wind whistled across the dunes. Smolder blinked up at her, his black orbs flicking uncertainly from side to side.

"I…I know where the other Outclaws are."

Thorn snorted. "Camel spit."

"I do! Just let me explain. It will all make perfect sense."

"Sure. And I'm a one-year-old hatchling. Is that the best you've got?"

To her mild amusement, Smolder actually looked somewhat angry. He sighed, his nostrils flaring.

"I may be a coward and an incompetent, but I'm not stupid. You're all wanted dragons now. You'll need my help if you're going to find your fellow Outclaws without getting caught by Blister. Oh, I know what you're thinking. 'He's just trying to bluff his way out of this. He's a sly snake and deserves to die, yada yada yada.'

Well, the only thing I can say is that I'm telling the truth. Kill me if you want. It won't make a difference—Blister wants me dead anyway for screwing up the attack on your gang."

Qibli's eyes lit up. "That's why those guards were chasing you!"

Smolder nodded tiredly. "A dozen sapphires and rubies for the dragon who brings my head to her. Normally I'd be flattered that my sister places so much value in me, except…well, I'm not exactly in her good graces."

Thorn raised an eyebrow. "So you're no longer working for your sister?"

"No," said Smolder despondently, "nothing so glamorous. I'm just trying to live to see the next sunrise. You can see how well _that's_ going."

She cocked her head, wondering what to do next. All she wanted to do was kill Smolder and rid herself of the wretched Sandwing. He'd been nothing but trouble to her, Sunny, and the Outclaws, and Thorn had finally had enough. No one was going to miss him, it seemed. Now was the perfect opportunity.

And yet…something held her back. Not guilt or pity—Smolder deserved neither. Was it curiosity? She did want to know how Smolder managed to escape Blister's grasp. And if he truly did know the whereabouts of some of the Outclaws, then sparing him long enough to get some answers would probably be worth the trouble…

Thorn closed her eyes, an image of Sunny surfacing in her mind. She had just seen her daughter last night in her dreams—evidently Sunny had gotten her claws on a dreamvisitor and thought it necessary to communicate with her mother. Sunny had assured her that she and her friends were safe for the time being, though the news of Glacier's absence and the coup at the Icewing palace was disturbing to say the least. Sunny had then told Thorn her ambitious plan: to stand and fight against Blister rather than hide or run from her expanding power.

Thorn's gut instinct had been to talk Sunny out of it. She had just found her daughter not two weeks ago, after six years of fruitless searching, and now her daughter was going out of her way to confront the most dangerous dragon in all of Pyrrhia? Every fiber in Thorn's being wanted to soar to Sunny's side and protect her from Blister's wrath, impossible as that prospect was currently.

But Sunny refused to be dissuaded. She was adamant Blister would always be a threat to her and her friends, and that the only way to ensure their future safety was to deal with her rather than hide.

"Sunny, this sounds too risky. Blister has too many dragons under her command. I know Tsunami has been training the Rainwings, but they're still no match for her troops."

"I know," Sunny had replied. "The others said as much. Which is why I'm hoping to get some help from the other tribes. I'm setting out for the Mud Kingdom tomorrow to see if Queen Moorhen would be interested in an alliance. We can't be the only ones who don't want Blister as queen."

Eventually Thorn gave in to Sunny's plan, as it was clear Sunny would not be convinced otherwise. Pride and longing welled up in Thorn's chest as she opened her eyes. Her little Beetle was growing up—had grown up, largely without her—and her only choice was to accept it, and help her daughter on this dangerous new quest.

She looked down at Smolder, who gazed back warily. She smiled. An idea formed in her head.

"Seems like today's your lucky day."

Both Smolder and Qibli looked at her as if she had cacti growing out of her ears.

"Thorn, you can't be—"

"—serious? You're not going to kill me—"

"—but all the Outclaws he killed—"

"—I feel like laughing and crying right now."

"Quiet, both of you," she said. "Smolder…I'm giving you _one_ chance to redeem yourself. One more than you deserve, really. I shouldn't need to say what happens if you mess this up."

He still looked dumbfounded. "You said you weren't the forgiving type."

"I'm not. I'm doing this because killing you would only help Blister, which I don't want to do if I can avoid it. You're going to earn your right to keep living. You're going to come with us and help us find the rest of my surviving Outclaws. Then, you'll repay your debt to the Outclaws by helping us fight Blister. Do I make myself clear?"

Smolder exhaled. "Crystal clear."

"Thorn, what are you doing?" said Qibli. "Letting him live is crazy! He'll betray us or backstab us the first chance he gets."

"Hear me out on this, Qibli. I have a plan."

His tail swished rapidly in agitation. "I still don't think—"

"Do you trust me?"

He blinked. "Wha—"

"Qibli, _do you trust me?_ "

He hesitated, before answering, "Of course." His black orbs shone with absolute loyalty.

"Then don't question me. I know what I'm doing."

Thorn turned back to Smolder. "You'll start by telling us everything that's happened since the attack on the Den."

* * *

The things that had happened, apparently, were quite morbid.

When Smolder had returned to Blister without Thorn's head, the Sandwing queen was furious. Despite the fact that he had succeeded in driving out the Outclaws, Blister had deemed Smolder a waste of time. She threw him back into the weirdling tower and prepared to have him publicly executed alongside Queen Glacier the next day.

"Glacier outlived her uselessness to Blister as well," said Smolder. "With Icicle leading the Icewings and Glacier's family in hiding, Blister has the Icewings' full support. I had the unenvious privilege to watch Blister finish the job she started two days ago." He shook his head, eyes closed. "The whole desert must have heard Glacier's screams. 'Queen of Poison', indeed," he grumbled.

When Thorn asked how he managed to escape, a strange expression appeared on Smolder's face. It looked like guilt…perhaps regret?

"Flower saved me."

"Flower? Your pet scavenger?" said Thorn skeptically.

He simply nodded. "After watching Glacier die, Flower got very agitated. When it was my turn, Flower refused to leave my side, even when Blister tried to remove her. She _attacked_ Blister. She didn't even have one of those little scavenger claws with her—she jumped on Blister's head and began pummeling her with her paws." His black eyes became distant, confusion and loss etched into them.

"Our eyes met once before I fled. I know it sounds crazy to say this, but I thought I saw her telling me to run. Like she was some mother dragon telling her dragonet to flee from danger…" He laughed heartlessly before saying, "I owe my life to a scavenger I've kept captive for twenty years. I doubt she's still alive. I never looked back after that—just flew and flew until I was too tired to fly further."

He had spent the next three days hiding in the desert, avoiding the dragons Blister had sent out to find him. While he was in hiding, he overheard something from one of the soldiers.

"It seems Blister has sent a flight of troops east near where the desert meets the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. At first I thought Blister had sent a forward scouting party—seems like either the Skywings or the Rainwings are the next tribe to be invaded, so it seemed a logical conclusion. But then I heard them say 'Outclaws'. I knew it had to be a sizeable group if Blister was sending two dozen dragons to fight them."

"Where?" asked Thorn. "Where exactly?"

Smolder screwed his eyes shut.

"I think…I think one of them mentioned a 'jade' something. I thought he was talking about the bounty reward, but come to think of it…" He spotted the light of recognition in Thorn's eyes. "You know it too, don't you?"

Thorn did. Relief and dread waged a private war within her heart. Soon she'd see a bunch of dragons she cared for—and one dragon in particular she didn't.

A moment of silence passed after Smolder finished speaking. The sun was lower towards the western horizon, slanting through the trunks of the palm trees.

"Well, that's all I know about that. Now that I've told you what you wanted to know, I trust you aren't going stab me with your tail? After watching Glacier's demise, I have a sudden urge not to die by poison."

Thorn looked him over. He didn't seem better off than she and Qibli were. Tired, dehydrated, dirty, with claws marks along his side from his recent tangle with the two of them. Though he was in his late twenties, Smolder looked at least ten years older, with his scales marred and his posture stooped. Fate and time had treated the wry Sandwing poorly, now more than ever. Again, an image of Sunny resurfaced in Thorn's mind. Sunny had seemed to take a liking to Smolder, despite all he'd done. And while Thorn doubted she would ever forgive Smolder for what he did to the Outclaws, she wanted to keep him alive for Sunny's benefit. Besides, there had already been so much death and bloodshed over the past week. First the failed peace meeting, then the attack on the Den. Perhaps it was the waning day, but Thorn felt her anger petering out into fatigue.

What could he do to her that was worse than what he'd done already? If he fought her, he would die—Thorn knew she could take him on without any of Blister's troops interfering. If he ran, Blister would eventually hunt him down. Either way, he was doomed. Thorn looked into Smolder's eyes and saw that he'd come to a similar conclusion.

"An Outclaw keeps her word."

She turned her nose east, then west toward the setting sun.

"We'll stay here for tonight, eat up and rest. Tomorrow, we'll set out for the mountains."

She heard Smolder's clear sigh of relief. Inwardly, she smiled. He wouldn't feel nearly as relieved when he meets the remains of her Outclaws.

* * *

Later that night, Qibli spoke up as Thorn was settling down to sleep.

"Why didn't you kill him?" he whispered, conscious of Smolder's snoring figure lying a wingspan away beneath a palm tree.

Thorn folded her wings in and curled her tail around her front claws.

"I know you think he deserves to die, Qibli. To be honest, I do too. But it wouldn't help us right now to kill him. He's no longer working for Blister, so he has no reason to betray us. He knows where the other Outclaws are, and probably a lot more on what Blister is up to. Killing him wouldn't do anything, but keeping him alive would."

"I still don't trust him."

She chuckled quietly. "I wouldn't expect you too—I trust him about as much as I trust a camel not to spit at me. I don't need you trust him, though. I just need you to tolerate him, at least until we reach the others. I'm going to keep Smolder in check, make sure he does everything I tell him to."

Qibli sniffed, his earring bobbing in the faint moonlight. "Alright. I don't like it, but if that's the way it's gonna be, then alright."

Thorn nodded her thanks. "Get some rest, Qibli. We have a long flight tomorrow."

She lay her down on her claws and closed her eyes. She was just about to drift off when Qibli spoke up again.

"But if he does anything, I swear he will wish Blister had killed him instead."

Thorn cracked her eye open a slit. Qibli was looking away, unaware she was still awake.

"And I'm not just saying that. I _mean_ it." She saw him crush a clump of sand in his claw. "No one hurts you, Thorn. I made myself that promise the day I joined the Outclaws."

He looked back over at her. Thorn shut her eye. His voice came out wavering, practically choked with emotion.

"After I left my family, and came to the Den…after you saved me, a random dragonet, from that thug who was about to kill me for not giving him my earring…I knew you would be a better mother to me than mine ever was." He sighed. "I know you think I'm overprotective, but I just want to repay everything you've done for me. 'Cause if something happens to you…"

An inkling of an idea wormed its way into Thorn's brain. Could he be…No, it couldn't be.

"…I don't know what I'd do."

She fought hard to stay still. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying?

"Thorn…I'll always follow you. I'll always be loyal to you, and only you. I'll always protect you, no matter what happens. I don't care how many of Blister's soldiers I'll have to fight—I'll fight 'em all. I'll fight 'em, until I kill them all…or I die. Because you're someone worth dying for."

There was no mistaking it, that adoration in his voice. She'd always assumed he was just an overeager dragonet looking up to his role model, trying his utmost to impress his superiors. Now, however, she realized she'd been wrong. She'd only heard that kind of tone directed towards her once in her life—and it came from the one dragon she ended up siring Sunny with.

Dread froze Thorn's heart. Blister? No biggie. Smolder? Whatever, nothing she couldn't handle.

A lovesick dragonet with a crush on her? That was the last thing she wanted to deal with.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow, this chapter turned out much longer than I thought it would. This was supposed to be a short interlude showing what happened to Thorn and Smolder after the attack on the Den, but it ended up becoming much longer than I anticipated. Don't worry, we'll be getting back to our five dragonets next chapter. I know I've been saying it for a while, but from here on things get more hectic. So hang in there, things are getting exciting.

Now, about Qibli's backstory. We got a couple hints at it in _Moon Rising_ , but otherwise Qibli's past remains a mystery. It seems we'll learn more about it in a later book, and it may not match with his backstory in my story. So, as a warning, I'd say just take Qibli's past as a deviation from the books from here on out. I am writing in the dark for some newer characters like Qibli, so if things in my story don't end up matching the books, you'll know why.

Also, finals week is over! It's been a while since my last update so I'll try to make an effort to update a bit more regularly now that my schedule is more clear. Again, thanks for reading, and I welcome any comments and reviews you have.

~SpicyDog99


	8. Diplomat

Diplomacy

Sunny was nervous. Very nervous. So nervous her scales felt like they were crawling with caterpillars. So nervous her wing muscles were beginning to cramp up, even though she'd been flying for the lesser part of a day. She was so nervous she was surprised she hadn't vomited up the breakfast of mangoes and bananas she'd had—or simply turned around and flew back to the rainforest.

But despite her apprehension, Sunny flew forward, nose aimed for Queen Moorhen's palace in the distance. She passed through a bank of clouds, the warm moisture leaving tiny drops of dew on her scales. The large, puffy cumulus clouds formed an ever-growing maze around her, broken occasionally by a streak of the blue sky above. Below, the lush greenery of the rainforest gave way to the sprawling lowlands of the Mud Kingdom. Swamps and patches of mud dotted the landscape, with boulders and bare trees strung with moss interrupting the constant brown. A lone heron flew past, flapping its wings lazily as if the two dragons flying above it didn't exist.

"Nervous?"

Sunny turned to her right. Webs flew beside her, his eyes filled with concern. He had volunteered to accompany Sunny on this diplomatic trip, saying that the others had more pressing issues to attend to in the rainforest. Tsunami and Glory were dubious at first, but Sunny spoke up for their former guardian. She couldn't help but feel bad for the aging Seawing, after all he had gone through after they'd escaped from under the mountain.

She nodded. "Talking to Queen Moorhen sounded a lot less scary back in the rainforest. Now that I'm going to her palace…I mean, from what I've seen of her in the dreamvisitor she seems like a good leader, but even so I still feel nervous."

Webs' snout crinkled in a wry smile. "I can hardly blame you. You and your friends haven't had the best experience with Pyrrhia's royalty."

"Yeah. I've spent so long thinking, 'Queen, danger!' that meeting with a queen on purpose feels like a death trap."

Sunny rubbed her claws together anxiously. "What if she won't see me? She sent some Mudwings to the peace meeting—she must know by now what happened. If she holds me responsible for Blister being queen, then she might not listen to anything no matter what. Oh, why didn't I think of that sooner? This sounded like a good idea at first, but now—"

"Sunny, don't worry," said Webs, his voice deep and calm. "Queen Moorhen will grant you an audience. She's acquired a better reputation for being reasonable. Of all the queens we could start with, I'd say Moorhen was the best choice."

Sunny smiled faintly. "Thanks, Webs…For what it's worth, I always thought you were nice to us. I know you think we all hate you, but really we don't. Even Glory and Tsunami like you. They'll never say it, but I know that they're glad you stuck with us."

Webs chuckled. "I may be getting old, Sunny, but I'm not senile yet. I know what Glory and Tsunami think of me—and, well, their perfectly correct. I haven't been a good guardian to the five of you. When I volunteered to help raise the you, I swore an oath to the Talons that I would protect you with my life. Kestrel and Dune made good on their oaths; I didn't, and you all suffered for it." He sighed heavily, before turning to meet Sunny's eyes.

"I'm hoping this will make up for it a little. You all sacrificed so much to try and end this war—you've more than earned my full support."

She saw an aching pain in the Seawing's eyes. Regret, guilt. The silence between them thickened.

"What were they like?"

He turned toward her slightly. "Who?"

"Kestrel and Dune. What were they like when you first met them? Before…before we came in."

Sunny saw his gills flatten. When he spoke a moment later his voice was quiet; Sunny had to fly closer to hear him.

"I can't say that I was close to them—none of us at the Talons were, since we were all dragons from different tribes and backgrounds. Kestrel was…head-strong." He smiled slightly. "That's the best way I can put it. She joined the talons shortly before Morrowseer made his prophecy, and jumped at the opportunity to raise the five of you. I didn't know what motivated her at the time, but now…"

"You know what happened between Kestrel and Scarlet. About Peril," Sunny finished.

He nodded. "She was a horribly maimed dragon. She seemed bad-tempered on the outside, but the truth was she was carrying so much pain in her heart I'm surprised she could keep going. I guess being with the Talons helped give her the reason she needed to keep living in this world, to do something after losing everything she cared about.

"As for Dune…I'll admit, I had trouble working with him in the beginning. It seemed like he hated everything—me and Kestrel included. Gradually, though, we got used to him. Seems like he also needed something to distract him from his past. He never told us exactly what he went through in the war, how he lost his leg and all of that." Webs shrugged. "I expect your mother knows a bit more about him, though from what I hear she never forgave him for stealing your egg, correct?"

Sunny shook her head sadly. "I still feel sad every time I think of Dune," she said. "He was…the first dragon to die in front of me. Some nights I still have nightmares, watching Scarlet kill Dune when he couldn't fight back." She shivered, hugging her claws close to her chest. "If there is one thing I do hate, it's killing. And what I'm doing now…" Slowly she drifted away, gazing distantly at the Claws of the Clouds Mountains.

Webs' eyes softened. He banked and flew closer, touching his flat, blue wings with her golden ones.

"I don't think I ever told you about Asha or Hvitur, did I?"

"Who?" said Sunny, shaking her thoughts out of her head.

"The two other minders who were going to help us. Nautilus originally planned to have five guardians, one for each dragonet. I think if those two had managed to survive, our time under the mountain would have gone a lot smoother. Asha was the one who delivered Clay's egg. She was always the more positive one among us, eager to raise and guide you as you grew…"

Time flew as Webs recounted his experiences with the Mudwing and Icewing that Sunny never met. Of tough little Asha, who kept up a positive attitude despite losing most of her siblings in the war. Of Hvitur, an exile from the isolated Ice Kingdom who sought peace as redemption for past crimes. Webs had said he wasn't close to them, yet as he spoke Sunny thought she heard a rare note of happiness in his voice. She couldn't help but wonder if, had things turned out differently, the five guardians could have bonded like she and her friends had. She didn't notice that the myriad of doubts crowding her mind began to fade.

It seemed barely a moment passed when Moorhen's palace appeared ahead of them—a squat mud dome surrounded by numerous Mudwing dwellings, sitting on an island in the middle of a big lake. A pair of Mudwings flew up to intercept them in the sky. Sunny and Webs pulled up, beating their wings as they hovered in midair.

"Halt! Identify yourselves," said one of the Mudwings, whose scales were a brown so dark he looked like a beefy Nightwing.

Webs glanced at Sunny, who nodded her head at him.

"I am Webs of the Seawings," he said. "This is Sunny of the Sandwings."

Both guards started visibly, looking at Sunny before sharing a glance.

"Sunny?" said the other guard, a smile wiry female. "You're one of those prophecy dragonets. What business do you have in Mudwing territory?"

Their gazes bore into Sunny. She inhaled, exhaled.

"I wish to speak with Queen Moorhen."

"About what?"

Sunny gulped. "A possible alliance, between the Mud Kingdom and…the dragonets."

She watched, heart sinking, as the guards' expressions soured.

"An alliance between us and…you?" said the male.

"What does that even mean?" said the female. "You want Queen Moorhen to ally her entire tribe with five dragonets?"

"More than just five dragonets," Webs interrupted. "The dragonets have both the Rainwing and Nightwing tribes at their side. Queen Moorhen's alliance would be with these two tribes as well."

The male cocked his head. "I thought I heard rumors about Nightwings in the rainforest. I didn't think that would be related to the dragonets of destiny…" He turned to his fellow guard. "Do we let them through?"

The female scrutinized Sunny and Webs, suspicion glowing in her eyes.

"Her Majesty is busy, what with current events happening so quickly. She should have time for a very brief talk, however. Follow us—no funny business, or we'll escort you out ourselves."

The guards turned and flew down toward the palace. With a shared look, Sunny and Webs pumped their wings and followed. They landed a short distance from the palace entrance, near a small hub of Mudwing dwellings. The place was busy—Mudwings were heading every which way, carrying materials, sending messages, or patrolling the grounds. Sunny spotted several groups of troops sparring, their claws churning the soggy ground. She looked away and spotted a large mud house; a peek inside revealed wounded soldiers resting fitfully, some of them still sporting fresh claw marks, burns, and frostbite. Healers moved between them, tending their injuries. As she watched, a young dragonet came barreling out of the mud house with a wad of bloody moss stuffed in her mouth. The little Mudwing ran to a dirty pool nearby and proceeded to wash the moss as best as she could, before hurtling back inside the house.

"Busy place," murmured Webs as they followed the guards toward the palace. "If I didn't know better, I'd say they were—"

"—still at war," Sunny finished, frowning. "It's like the peace meeting never happened."

As they entered the crowd, numerous heads turned towards them, their golden and blue scales standing out amongst the dreary browns. Immediately Sunny felt their looks: curious, suspicious, almost outright hostile. Slowly whispers drifted toward her.

"Is that…one of them?"

"Can't be—"

"—thought they were hunted down already."

"What's she doing—"

"—want with the queen—"

"—after everything that's happened…"

"…cursed newt-slime dragonets. Always knew they were trouble…"

Sunny unconsciously drifted closer to Webs', who folded a wing protectively around her.

"Just ignore them," he said.

"They _hate_ us…After the peace meeting failed," Sunny lifted a claw to her snout, "we let them down. Moons, this is just getting worse."

" _Ignore_ them, Sunny. Come, we're almost there."

They entered into the cool shadow of a hallway lit by torches. The walls were a smooth brown, bare of any decorations. Small square windows cast light into the dim palace interior. It was a far cry from the splendor of Scarlet's palace, with all its jewel-bedecked walls, floors, and ceilings.

"The palace," Sunny whispered hesitantly. "It feels so, I don't know…"

"Barren?" suggested Webs.

She nodded. "Come to think of it I haven't seen any treasures anywhere. Are the Mudwings really this poor?"

"No," said Webs, "they just aren't the type of dragons to show off. As far as I know Moorhen has a decent sized treasury. She prefers to spend her resources on things that will help the tribe."

"Like training her troops."

He nodded. "True. I think this means Moorhen's nervous about Blister. The Mudwings have always been a more militaristic tribe, but even this amount of activity seems unusual. If she's preparing her forces this far in advance—"

"Alright, that's far enough," said the female guard. They had stopped in a courtyard in the middle of the palace. Hallways stretched into the darkness to the left and right; ahead of them sat a large pair of bronze doors with heavy, circular handles. The guard knocked gently, before easing the door open and poking her head inside. After a moment of conversation that Sunny couldn't hear, the guard turned around.

"You may enter," she said, pointing a claw at Sunny. "Your chaperon may not."

Webs' eyes narrowed. The male guard growled quietly, "Don't even think about it."

"Webs," said Sunny reassuringly, laying a claw on his side, "it's alright. I can take it from here."

"I don't like this." Webs' gills flared and flattened repeatedly, agitation in his voice.

"I'll be OK. Remember what you said about Moorhen being a reasonable queen?"

He calmed a bit, nodding to Sunny. "Alright. I'll be waiting out here for you."

With a slight smile, Sunny left his side and entered through the doors into Queen Moorhen's audience chamber.

Actually, "chamber" was a bit of an exaggeration. Four pillars held up a low roof with four skylights set in it. Iron braziers lined the plain walls, leading to the far wall with a small dais in front of it. Queen Moorhen sat in front of a desk, eyes scanning a scroll. Behind her on the wall was the only piece of decoration in the room—a large map of Pyrrhia, with numerous wooden pins driven in at different points. Sunny noticed a sizeable number of them clustered near the border between the rainforest and the Kingdom of Sand.

Moorhen looked up as the door boomed shut behind Sunny. Surprisingly enough, she smiled.

"Ah, you must be one of the prophecy dragonets. I must apologize, I only learned of your arrival moments ago. Please, come forward," she said, waving a claw at a spot before the dais.

Gingerly Sunny stepped forward, her claws making hardly a sound on the smooth, mud floor. She bowed, touching your snout to the floor.

"Y-your Majesty," she began shakily. "My name is Sunny. Um, I'm humbled by your presence. I'm here today to, uh, discuss something very important."

Sunny stayed in her prone position, unsure what to do next. Should she keep going? Or wait for a response? Her neck was beginning to ache already.

"Oh, that's enough bowing, little one. Get up, before you hurt yourself. I want to have an actual conversation, not talk to the top of your head."

Swiftly she stood up, nearly falling over in the process as she sat in what she hoped was a dignified pose: head up, neck curved in an "S", tail wrapped around her rear claws. Back in the rainforest, when they were rehearsing possible conversations between her and Moorhen, Sunny had tried a number of poses, from a soldier's ready position to a relaxed, nonchalant look. They'd all looked ridiculous, according to Glory, who, as their resident royalty (Tsunami notwithstanding), took it upon herself to ensure Sunny looked presentable to Moorhen. Eventually they settled on her current pose. Apparently, she looked "cute, friendly, but with a touch of business". Sunny was just glad she wouldn't get tired in this position.

Moorhen blinked, cocking her head to one side.

"Have we met before?"

"We have," answered Sunny, "in a dream. A few days before the peace meeting I contacted you via a dreamvisitor. I told you not to attack the Icewings, and tell Burn to meet us at the meeting. Uh, Your Majesty." She bowed again briefly.

"Right," said Moorhen, blinking slowly. "I remember. That was a rather terrifying dream, until you showed up. Then it just got surreal."

The large Mudwing shook her head. "Regardless, I'm glad to finally meet you here—under less than ideal circumstances, unfortunately. I assume you saw the chaos outside?"

Sunny nodded affirmative. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it all about? Burn is dead, so you have no one forcing your tribe to fight anymore."

"No one, except Blister, who will surely retaliate against me and my dragons for opposing her in the war." Moorhen stepped aside, showing Sunny the map.

"My scouts have spotted a number of Sandwing flights gathering near the edge of the rainforest. Both the rainforest and the mountains stand between her and the Mud Kingdom, but I'm not taking any chances. I'm keeping my soldiers fit and trained, and have sent out a fresh call for recruits." She turned back to Sunny. "With the way the 'peace' meeting went, it's no surprise that my dragons are going back to war so soon."

Sunny dipped her head. She had to expect this sooner or later—might as well get it over now.

"On behalf of my friends, I apologize, Your Majesty. I know you placed a lot of trust in us, and we broke that trust when the peace meeting failed." She shifted uncomfortably. "I…I know it doesn't mean much to those who suffered in the war, but I still want to say it. I'm sorry we weren't able to bring peace to Pyrrhia."

She waited for Moorhen's response. After a moment of silence the Mudwing stepped back to her desk.

"No matter. I've lived five decades in this world. Most of that time was spent in warfare—even before the War of the Sandwing Succession Pyrrhia was hardly a peaceful land. War is terrible, but it's nothing that I and my tribe have not dealt with before. We'll endure, like we always have." She reached out and rolled up the scroll, handing it to a servant who quietly left the room with it.

"Now then. What is it you wish to speak with me about?"

Sunny closed her eyes. All her doubts, all her worries—she pushed them aside, made room only for the speech she had memorized. This was what she wanted, an audience with Moorhen. She would not back out now.

She opened her eyes, breathed in, and spoke.

"I want to start an alliance between us and the Mud Kingdom. As you know, Blister's forces are pressing closer to the Rainforest and Sky Kingdoms. One of my friends is queen of both the Rainwings and the Nightwings, who have moved into the rainforest after their previous home was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Although the Rainwings have been training for war, and the Nightwings have been regaining their strength, it is clear that our two tribes still don't stand a chance against Blister's troops. We fear that Blister will invade the rainforest and kill us for defying her in the war.

"I've spoken with my friends about this. We've all agreed that we'll fight Blister until every one of us is dead. Should we die, however, I don't think that Blister will stop her conquests. Based on our impressions of her over the past few weeks, it's very clear that Blister wants to rule all of Pyrrhia. She already has the Icewings at her back; the rumors that a coup occurred at the Icewing palace, and that Queen Glacier is no longer in power, are true. With their help she will attack the Skywings, then your Mudwings, before finally turning on the Seawings. She will kill, enslave, or bribe the rest of dragonkind to fight for her, until finally no one opposes her rule over the continent.

"Blister is a danger to us all. I know tensions from the war are still lingering, and you aren't keen on trusting other dragons after so much blood has been shed. But I'm urging you now to consider an alliance. Alone, my friends and I stand little chance of defeating Blister. But if your Mudwings join us, we can push back Blister's forces and keep them from invading further east. I know you and your dragons have suffered a lot in the past twenty years. I know that the last thing you want is to send your tribe straight back to war. But if we don't fight Blister together, then eventually she will find her way to your kingdom's doorstep—and you won't have the Rainwings, the Nightwings, or my friends to help you in your time of need."

Silently Sunny exhaled, her heart hammering in her chest. Moorhen had sat through her speech without a word, her face an unreadable mask. Seconds ticked by. More seconds.

"You've given me a lot to think about, Sunny."

Sunny cocked her head. "Your Majesty?"

"I can tell you've given it a lot of thought. And you came all the way here to speak face to face with me, instead of sending a messenger or visiting me in my dreams. I respect that—asking for a queen's help is daunting for anyone, least of all a dragonet. You genuinely care about your friends and the tribes they govern, otherwise you would have simply fled the rainforest by now."

The beginnings of a smile touched Sunny's snout. She couldn't help it. Moorhen was really going to—

"However, I can't just send my entire force to another tribe's territory simply because one dragonet requested it. I have to consider my tribe's wellbeing. They will be fighting a war, far from their homes, for dragons they don't know, when all they want is to settle down and have a few years of peace. Even if my dragons accept this, there's no guarantee they will be able to make a difference."

"B-but Your Majesty," Sunny protested, "Mudwings are known for being fantastic warriors. I'm sure they'll—"

"They may be fantastic warriors, but that doesn't mean they're invincible. My dragons have their limits, and this war nearly drove them past it. Surely you saw the healer's huts. We have many soldiers who are still in critical condition and many more who can't fight in the near future. Our numbers have shrunk over the years—I barely have five hundred dragons who are fit for service right now." Moorhen sighed deeply. "I understand that you're desperate, but unless you can prove that my dragons won't be flying to their deaths, I can't afford to send much assistance. Perhaps I can part with some weapons and armor, if you have anything of worth to trade. Otherwise…"

No. Please, no. Sunny couldn't afford to lose it all now. She'd come so far, she had to return with something, anything at least!

"Your Majesty," she said, biting back the anxiety threatening to surface in her voice, "your points are valid, but I'm confident that your troops will be better fighting with us. The rainforest may be unfamiliar to you, but our dragons can help yours get situated and dug in. Blister's soldiers are completely out of their element—Sandwings don't like the muggy climate and Icewings don't like the heat. They'll be the ones at a disadvantage."

Moorhen still didn't look convinced.

"I know you want to fight on your home turf," Sunny continued. "All of us do—including the Rainwings and the Nightwings. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that dragons are more confident when they have friends flying beside them. It doesn't matter what tribe those dragons are from. As long as we stand together and don't separate, we _can_ stop Blister's invasion."

The flames flickered dimly along the walls, casting shadows on Moorhen's uncertain expression. Slowly she opened her mouth. Slowly she spoke.

"I'll send a forward detachment—eight sib troops, roughly forty to fifty dragons—to accompany you back to the rainforest. They will act as your temporary reinforcements. I'll send two of my siblings with them, both to help and to check on conditions in your kingdom. If things are really as bad as you say they are, then I'll consider bringing the rest of my forces to aid you." She looked Sunny in the eye, brown orbs firm, yet compassionate. "Is that acceptable?"

It wasn't the alliance she'd been hoping for. Still, Sunny knew she was pushing Moorhen far enough. Fifty dragons weren't much in the larger picture, but it was better than nothing. With luck, Moorhen would allow more of her forces to join in the coming weeks.

A broad smile lit up Sunny's face. She dipped her head to Moorhen.

"I fully accept, Your Majesty."

* * *

 **A/N:** Insert obligatory "I'M NOT DEAD" message here.

In all seriousness, I wish I could say that I had a legitimate reason for the near-month long delay in updates...but I can't. I got lazy, that's the truth of it. XP I've been spending too much time playing computer games and too little writing this story. Unfortunately I can't guarantee that this story will be updated more often than this. I'll definitely make an effort, but between my new internship, living in a new place, and my Steam library, I'm gonna have many things vying for my attention. Sorry to say this, but I figure you guys at least deserve a heads up.

 **SPOILERS FOR _WINTER TURNING_**

On a brighter note, I finished _Winter Turning_ earlier this week. I actually quite enjoyed it, especially seeing the Icewings in depth for the first time. I have to say, Winter probably has the worst parents so far, though there's foreshadowing that Qibli had an even worse family. I mean, Clay's mother couldn't care less about him and Glory has no idea who her parents are, but overall the main five have relatively nice parents. Seeing Tundra and Narwhal, and their whole ranking system...man, I thought my parents were rough. XD

Also, Winter is absolutely _obsessed_ with Moon. Forget the ol' SunnyFlight, these two are the new star-struck couple of this story arc. I'm not really one for shipping, personally, but I can see these two getting many fanfictions of their own. Assuming, of course, that Qibli doesn't butt in with his usual snarky attitude. ;)

That's all for today, everyone. As always leave a review if there's anything you liked or disliked about this chapter. I'm trying to aim for shorter, more concise chapters. The last couple chapters almost hit ten pages a piece, and I feel going for that much content per chapter is part of the reason for my long delay - I just feel intimidated by the amount of writing I have to do. Tell me what you think, and again, thanks for reading.

~SpicyDog99


	9. First Blood

First Blood

The first scouts began to appear.

At first it was mere sightings—a scale here, a barbed tail there. Groups of two or three Sandwings cruised along the edge of the rainforest, circling above the southern peaks of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains. They watched, black beady eyes glinting against the sun's rays as they gazed out across their quarry. The Rainwing patrols, camouflaged against the trees, reported the movements of Blister's soldiers to Tsunami and Glory. Fate had seen fit to place the rainforest's safety in these dragonets' claws, whether they were ready for the task or not.

Tsuanmi had immediately gone out to the edge of the rainforest to confirm the reports for herself. She had thought that crossing the mountains would slow down Blister's troops, as they had to go through Skywing territory. But Starflight had convinced her otherwise.

"The Skywings keep most of their strength up north, near Queen Ruby's Palace. The mountain range covers such a large area that few patrols ever come this far south. Especially with Ruby preoccupied with a civil war," he'd said.

"Civil war?"

Starflight had nodded, looking forlorn. "Scarlet is still out there somewhere, and she's doing everything in her power to get her old throne back. I've gone over all the news and reports from the Sky Kingdom. It's a mess up there—Scarlet's dragons strike fast, and they never stay in one spot too long. She's split the Skywings in half, forced families and friends against each other. Ruby won't back down, though. She knows what her mother is like."

So did Tsunami. An image shot through her head every time she thought of the former queen. Gill, her father, delirious and near-death, gazing up at her with crazed eyes as she placed her claws around his head. She smelt his blood, heard his wheezing gasps, felt his bones crack as she twisted his head around. Above it all was Scarlet—amused, entertained, a condescending grin on her bejeweled face. Guilt, horror, and regret at what she'd done would fill Tsunami's heart. It would be replaced every time with a steadfast determination to see justice done.

There would be a reckoning someday; Tsunami's webbed claws twitched in anticipation of that day. But until then, Blister remained the bigger threat to her and her friends.

The first signs of Blister's advance sent the young Seawing into high gear. It was one thing to hear Starflight's reports on Blister's movements. It was quite another to actually see Sandwings cresting the mountain peaks like sharks following a blood trail. The day after the first Sandwings appeared Tsunami decided to ramp up the Rainwings' training. After their customary morning exercises, she gathered the troops together on the large training platform that stretched between three tall trees in the middle of the village.

"Alright, soldiers," said Tsunami, pacing the length of the platform. "We're doing close-combat sparring next. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: you may have your venom, you may have your darts, but sooner or later you'll have to fight a Sandwing head-to-head. When it happens you can't run or hide—that will only get you killed. You'll need to use your small size and agility to outmaneuver your opponent." Her thick tail swished languidly, her head up and claws settled apart. She'd seen her mother's soldiers adopting such positions during her short stay in the Kingdom of the Sea, and had taken to using it herself. She thought it made her look fierce yet dignified at the same time.

Before her, the entirety of the Rainwing army sat in formation. Well, loose formation. The hundred or so Rainwings were sitting in rather crooked and lopsided rows. Some blinked sleepily under the warm sunlight, while others whispered animatedly among themselves or gazed off distractedly at the birds and flowers among the trees. Only a few were watching Tsunami. The first few times she'd seen this Tsunami had wanted to throttle them; after dealing with it for two weeks straight, she simply sighed and continued.

"Find your sparring partners—not your sleeping partners, OK? Please try to remember that this is _training_ time, not sun time."

A few dragons fidgeted, looked at each other uncertainly.

"Well?" said Tsunami, gesturing impatiently with a claw. "Get to it, soldiers!"

Reluctantly the Rainwings began to move, muttering and whining as they stretched their wings and milled about, trying to find their positions. The vibrant colors of their scales clashed in a chaotic rainbow; at first Tsunami had tried to make her troops use a uniform dark green color, both for camouflage and to avoid unnecessary distractions. The Rainwings had protested, almost vehemently—Glory explained that Rainwings took great pride in their scale colors, showing them off like jewels or treasure. It frustrated Tsunami to no end that these "soldiers" she was supposed to train would care about something so inconsequential. No Sandwings were going to say, "Aww, you look pretty! I think I'll spare you."

"You heard the lady!" shouted Riptide. He jumped forward from where he'd been sitting next to Tsunami, pushing his way into the throng of Rainwings to try and straighten them out. _Thank the moons,_ thought Tsunami for the thousandth time. Were it not for him stepping in to help her with the Rainwings, she likely would have given up her impromptu post as General long ago. Between the two of them, they managed to help the Rainwings become somewhat competent at fighting.

 _Maybe,_ thought Tsunami as she gazed at her rabble of an army, _maybe we can defeat Blister. That is, if Blister does something incredibly stupid. Or her troops get weak and demoralized, and the Rainwings stop being so sleepy and distracted. Then maybe we can defeat her._

Suddenly an argument broke out between two Rainwings over who had the shiniest scales. Their shrill, squawking voices got everyone's attention, and the soldiers promptly forgot what they were doing and crowded around the two to spectate. Riptide tried desperately to break up the crowd, but already they were cheering and egging on the fight.

Tsunami groaned, shaking her head. Who was she kidding? With troops like these Blister could probably stroll right into the village without taking a scratch. Their only hope lay with Sunny and Webs, who had left yesterday to speak with Queen Moorhen about a possible alliance. They would return sometime later today, hopefully with an attachment of Mudwing soldiers in tow. Until then Tsunami felt very exposed to attack. If Blister's forces invaded now, she highly doubted she could do much to save the rainforest from destruction.

The sound of a pair of wings approaching brought the young Seawing general out of her thoughts. She turned around to see Glory land gracefully on the platform, her scales a regal burgundy color. Behind her Tsunami spotted a dark figure hidden in the trees: Deathbringer, protecting his charge as always. Inwardly Tsunami smiled. Their relationship never failed to amuse her.

"How goes the training?" Glory said by way of greeting.

Tsunami chuckled mirthlessly. "Take a look for yourself," she said, gesturing at the soldiers who were finally breaking up and reforming into their sparring groups. Riptide moved among them, making corrections to stances and showing the clueless Rainwings what close quarters combat actually meant: physically clawing and biting your opponent instead of just hiding from him.

A slight tinge of green filtered through Glory's scales.

"That bad, huh?"

Tsunami nodded. "You sure there aren't any more volunteers? A hundred dragons are barely enough to defend this village, let alone the whole rainforest."

"More soldiers? Don't you have your claws full enough already?" Glory cocked an eyebrow, casting a skeptical look in her direction.

"What? You don't think I can command more troops then we have already?"

"Well, seeing the way your training sessions are going—"

"Hey, today's a bit chaotic, that's all. I'm preparing the troops for close combat fighting—they'll need it to fight Blister's forces. Once they get their moves and attacks straightened out, they'll be good, and I'll be able to handle an extra load of troops."

Glory kept looking at Tsunami, her gaze still skeptical. Tsunami sighed.

"OK, maybe not. But look," she said, pointing a claw to the northeast, "Sunny and Webs should be back later today, and hopefully they'll have some reinforcements with them. If you won't get me some more troops to train, then we'll have to rely solely on the Mudwings to help us defend. Now, I may not be the most diplomatic of dragons, but even I know that the Mudwings won't like fighting for us if we don't show at least some effort on our part."

Tsunami gazed off to the west, where the peaks of the mountains poked up above the distant canopy.

"That's assuming Sunny could even convince Moorhen to send some of her troops. I'm all for Sunny's alliance strategy, but that doesn't mean it's flawless. If Moorhen refuses…" Tsunami flared her wings in agitation, nearly hitting a disgruntled Glory.

"I get it, Tsunami, you need more dragons. But I've combed through the village half a dozen times already, and there aren't any more Rainwings willing to fight. There aren't many Rainwings who _can_ fight left; it's mostly elders and young dragonets." Her scales changed to a slight orange. "And before you ask, no, I'm not going to force my dragons to fight if they don't want to."

Tsunami nodded. "Fair enough. That's not the way I want to fight this war anyway." After seeing so many innocent dragons forced into a conflict they wanted no part in, she had decided that she would only recruit soldiers who wanted to participate in the war. It felt wrong beyond words to force dragons to fight after watching them suffer so much. Besides, Tsunami wanted soldiers who were loyal enough to risk their lives defending their home and tribe. If she forced dragons into her little army, there was no telling whether or not they'd fight, run, or even betray her out of spite.

 _Still,_ thought Tsunami, _we might not have a choice. If things go badly and Blister defeats us, we'll all have to abandon the rainforest—or die._

"Can I make a suggestion, milady?" said a voice behind them. Tsunami turned to see that Deathbringer had landed on the platform. He approached them, wings folded neatly. His black scales were a slight indigo color under the direct sunlight.

"That would depend on the suggestion," said Glory. "And would you please stop calling me 'milady'? That sounds weird when it's directed at me."

"I think it suits you," said Tsunami, poking Glory playfully in the side, "more so than 'Your Majesty'. It'll make you less haughty and insufferable."

Glory rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Tsunami. Anyway, what'd you have in mind, Death?"

 _Now_ that _sounds weird,_ thought Tsunami.

Deathbringer dipped his head in acknowledgement and began.

"I've been listening around in the Nightwing village for the past couple of days. The whole tribe's heard about Blister's scouts appearing, and they're nervous about what Blister will do should she invade the rainforest and discover them there."

Glory tapped a talon on her snout. "Yeah, I remember. Weren't you guys going to ally with Blister, or something like that? Hmm, wonder how that went…"

Deathbringer shot Glory the stinkeye. "What I mean to say is that we don't feel safe from Blister. If she finds the Nightwings here—under your protection no less—she will probably kill us all as revenge for not fulfilling Morrowseer's prophecy.

"Well, news flash: Nightwings don't like being killed. So some of us have expressed the desire to join Tsunami's little army here and help defend the rainforest. It's pretty clear that she needs the help, and the Nightwings have a bit more experience with fighting. Or, at least, we won't fall asleep or go chasing after a butterfly in the middle of a battle."

Tsunami's eyes narrowed. Nightwings in her army, fighting alongside the very Rainwings they'd kidnapped and tortured not long ago? Every fiber of Tsunami's being protested at the idea. It had only been two short weeks since the Nightwings first arrived in the rainforest, and trust between them and the Rainwings was still dangerously thin. She still didn't trust most of them—their prophecies seemed to cause more harm than good. And in the few times she had visited the Nightwing village, no one had said they wanted to join her army. All of them had looked at her with suspicion and distrust, still resentful that an army of Rainwings trained by a Seawing had managed to best their military strength, weak as it was at the time.

And yet, the idea still piqued her interest. Thanks to the rainforest's abundant food supply and healthy environment, the Nightwings were beginning to regain their strength. The signs of long-term emaciation and malnutrition were fading. According to Starflight and Fatespeaker the new Nightwing hatchery was already filling up; it was wonderful news for the tribe, though the Rainwings seemed noticeably less enthusiastic about it. Nevertheless Tsunami saw the merits in letting the Nightwings join the fight. The rainforest was their home as well, and she certainly held no doubts that Blister would just as likely subjugate the Nightwings given the opportunity. Tsunami's army was woefully tiny, and the Nightwings could help replenish its numbers. Despite her misgivings, she knew this was the smart decision to make.

"No," said Glory.

Tsunami turned to her. She was an unusual color—a red-orange with strips of violet coursing through her scales.

"But, Glory—"

"No, Deathbringer," she said, cutting off his protests. "I will not allow the Nightwings to fight. It's still too risky to give them that kind of power—who's to say they won't turn around and attack the Rainwings?" Glory's frill flared out as splotches of green mingled within her scales. "No. They can stay in their village. The Rainwings will ensure no harm comes to them."

Deathbringer's expression was inscrutable. His next words were slow and methodical.

"I know you still don't trust most of the Nightwings, Glory. And you deserve to—we haven't done much to earn your respect." He scraped a talon along the platform, gouging a groove into the wood.

"But you can't deny that you need the help. Starflight's reports just keep getting worse by the day—Blister has already moved several flights into the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, and more are coming in every day. There are rumors that a large force of Icewings is making its way south through the desert, and they're also heading for the mountains. I don't need to be a tactical expert to see that the odds are stacked _way_ against us."

He turned to Tsunami. "What do you think? You've been quiet so far."

To be frank, she didn't know what to think. They had originally agreed that to defeat Blister, they would need the help of as many dragon tribes as possible. Tsunami was ready to ally with the Mudwings as well as her fellow Seawings. The Skywings might take some getting used to, but she knew they were a powerful tribe, and was willing to put aside her bad impressions of them if it meant they could help win the war.

But the Nightwings? The wounds they wrought were still fresh. She knew they could help fight Blister—she simply didn't believe they would. They were enemies. Pacified enemies, sure, but still enemies.

 _Well,_ she thought, _maybe it's time to change that line of thought. If we truly want to unite all of Pyrrhia against Blister, then we need to put aside our past grudges and work together. Otherwise we'll tear each other apart before Blister even gets here._

She heaved a sigh, and said, "I don't trust the Nightwings any more than Glory does. But maybe this war against Blister will give them a chance to prove themselves. If the Nightwings want to fight with the Rainwings to defend the rainforest, then I say we let them take a shot." She shrugged. "It's not much, but who knows, maybe they'll surprise us."

She received a subtle nod of thanks from Deathbringer, who then turned to Glory. "C'mon Glory. I know it's tough, but please at least consider it. It'll really help ease the tensions between the tribes."

Glory's scales had faded in intensity to a vague grey. She gazed down at her claws, reluctance in her eyes.

"I'll think about it. If you and Starflight can vouch for any Nightwings you think are more trustworthy than their peers, then I'll consider letting Tsunami train them."

Deathbringer breathed an audible sigh of relief. "I knew you wouldn't let us down, milady."

Glory wrinkled her snout. "I told you to stop calling me that."

He spread his claws out in a helpless gesture. "Well, you are a lady, aren't you? A mighty fine one who has earned the love of her tribe—and of one dragon in particular." He leaned in close and winked provocatively, a cheeky grin on his face. Glory rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the wave of pink that was positively blossoming across her scales.

"Oh, get a treehouse you two," said Tsunami as she turned her attention back to the soldier's drills. "Some of us have a job to do, you know."

"Like you're one to talk, Tsunami," Glory retorted from behind. "You've been absolutely mooning over Riptide every day that you're out here with him."

"For the last time, Riptide and I have a strictly _professional_ relationship. I'm the general, he's my lieutenant. I lead the troops, he helps me train them. End of story." Tsunami refused to turn around and give Glory the satisfaction of distracting her from her work.

"Right. Mmm-hmm. Yep. I'm sure nothing _fishy_ ever happens during your evening 'Aquatic lessons' with him. Get it? Fishy? 'Cause you're both Seawings? And you go off each night to do something rather, shall we say—"

"That was a terrible pun, Glory. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." Tsunami's eyes were shut tight as she rid her mind of any and all images that would confirm Glory's claims.

Glory dissolved into laughter. "What can I say?" she said to Deathbringer. "She's a feisty one isn't she?" With that she and Deathbringer took off, their laughter fading into the trees as Tsunami tried very hard not to shred the wood beneath her claws.

"Fishy? What's fishy?" said Riptide, who had come back after ensuring the Rainwings' drills were going smoothly. Tsunami stayed in her soldier's ready position, eyes avoiding his sky blue scales as they glittered attractively under the sunlight.

"Nothing. On a completely unrelated note, do you think we can find somewhere a bit more…I don't know…secluded for our evening lessons?"

There was a beat of silence, filled only by the sounds of the soldiers' claws scraping on the wood.

"Are you implying something, Tsunami?" His eyes twinkled mischievously.

She gave him the strongest glare she could. "Why you little—no, of course not! I just don't want any prying eyes to witness my less-than-stellar attempts at Aquatic."

He dipped his head to her. "Yes, ma'am."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

A slight smile touched his snout. "Hey, now. Who says Deathbringer has to be the only snarky male here in the rainforest?"

Tsunami's jaw nearly dropped open. She saved herself by turning away. "I hate you, Riptide."

"Love you too, Tsunami."

She groaned. Boys. They were the absolute bane of her existence.

* * *

The first warning Tsunami got was a loud roar that came from the edge of the village.

The second warning she got was a familiar voice screaming, "Sandwings! They're here! They're attacking!"

Tsunami's head whipped up from the map she'd been staring at. Across from her Riptide, Starflight, and Fatespeaker tensed. They had been discussing the best points of defense in the rainforest as well as possible angles Blister might attack from when Jambu's deep-green form hurtled past the window of Glory's audience treehouse, his shrill voice going on and on.

"Blister's soldiers are here! They're gonna kill us! RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIIIIIVES!"

Shock momentarily froze Tsunami's mind. Blister's troops, here already? How did they find the village? How did they get here so fast? And how had the scouts not _seen_ the Sandwings coming? It was later that same day and Sunny still hadn't returned yet with the Mudwing reinforcements. And now the village was under attack?

Panic swamped her. It was her worse nightmare come true—the Rainwings, completely underprepared, being forced against Blister's veterans with no additional assistance. The war was here now, days before Tsunami expected it to arrive. How in the deep blue sea was she going to do this? Their first battle, and Blister already had all the advantages—strength, experience, the element of surprise.

 _Snap out of it! Focus,_ she screamed at herself. _You aren't a little Seawing dragonet anymore. You're a general, you have an army, and there's an enemy you need to fight. You're going to head out there, gather your troops and win this battle, right now!_

She shook her head, the mental pep talk clearing away the panic. Meanwhile, Starflight sat frozen in his typical statuesque position, while Fatespeaker whirled about, yammering something incoherent about not having gotten a vision about this. Riptide looked at her, his expression asking the unspoken question: what are we going to do?

"No time for chitchat," said Tsunami. "Fatespeaker, Starflight, grab all the important scrolls from the library treehouse and head to the Nightwing village—you'll be safe there. Riptide, go get Glory and tell her we're under attack. Have her gather the old and young at the healer's hut—it's the safest place in the village." With that, Tsunami turned and leapt for the entrance.

"W-wait," said Starflight, "what about you?"

Tsunami stopped. In her mind she saw Blister at the peace meeting: gloating, proud, strutting over the dead bodies of her sisters, smiling viciously as one of her lifelong friends lay dying of poison. She saw her raise a claw and order her guards to kill them.

 _They will die for all the trouble they have caused me._

She turned around and looked her friends in the eye.

"I have a war to win."

With that she launched herself into the air and pumped her wings, gaining altitude and soaring above the treetops. To the west she saw the tan-colored wings of a dozen Sandwings swooping in, following Jambu's voice as he sounded the alarm. With a growl Tsunami raised her head and called out.

"Rainwings, to me!"

Nothing happened.

"I said, Rainwings, to me!"

Still nothing happened. Tsunami looked for her troops and found them all sprawled out along the platforms or curled up in hammocks. Most of them were asleep, though several were starting to wake up, groggily shaking their heads and wondering aloud about the ruckus. Tsunami felt like tearing out her horns. Of all the times Blister could have chosen to attack, she just had to attack at _sun_ time, didn't she?

 _No wonder they managed to find the village. They probably flew straight past the sentries—who are also asleep._ If she survived this day, Tsunami was going to give those sentries a tongue-lashing they weren't going to forget.

A few Rainwings did respond, however. Frantically they shook the sleep from their bodies and took off unsteadily into the air. Their confused voices echoed through the air.

"Sandwings? Where?"

"Over there! To the west!"

"My blowgun! Where is it?"

"Ooh, their scales are pretty…"

"Regroup, soldiers," yelled Tsunami, swooping around to make herself visible. "Loose wedge formation behind me! It's time to show these sand snakes what the Rainwings are truly made of. Charge!"

Seeing their general, the dozen or so Rainwings that were airborne swooped up behind her and followed in a V-shape behind her. Tsunami noted that most didn't have their blowguns—just their claws, teeth, and venom, which they'd hopefully use. She faced down the lead Sandwing in front of her, a grimace on her snout. _This is it,_ she thought. _The war against Blister starts with this first battle._

She held her head down and flew into the lead Sandwing with an audible _thump_ , slamming her head into his ribcage. He roared and flung her off him, before opening up with a bout of fire. Tsunami dove and spun, the flames licking her belly, as she turned around for another go. Fast and low, hit him where it hurts—the words paraded through her brain as she swiped at him again and again.

A sharp pain erupted along her back. She whirled around to find another Sandwing latched to her back. She screamed and spun in the air, trying desperately to throw her aggressor off before he could stab her with his tail. His grip slipped, and with a powerful flick she smacked him across the head with her tail, sending him tumbling into the trees.

Tsunami broke off, panting, pain shooting through her wings and back. She surveyed the battle, and her heart sank. Two Rainwings were down already: one lay sprawled in a tree, clutching a chest wound that was rapidly turning black with poison, while another plummeted listlessly toward the ground, crashing loudly into the undergrowth. Her other soldiers weren't faring much better, cornered and wounded as they were already. By contrast, the Sandwings barely had a scratch between them. They circled, jeering and whooping, as if they were hunting scavengers for sport.

"Use your venom! Spit on 'em!" she screamed, diving at one Sandwing and raking her claws across her back. She grabbed onto her, just as one of her comrades had done with Tsunami moments ago, and held her for the terrified Rainwing in front of them.

"Hit her, now!"

With a start, the Rainwing reared back and spat at the Sandwing's chest. Tsunami ducked her head to avoid the spit and shoved the now screeching Sandwing away. Voices shouted around her as she wove between the writhing, dueling bodies of the dragons.

"General, help!"

"Wait, is that a Seawing?"

"Ack, ow, my scales! They're ruined."

"Get the Seawing, she's leading the Rainwings!"

"Get it off me, get it off me—"

"—little help, over here—"

"Arrgggh!"

"Ahhhhh!"

She fought, and fought, and fought. Every time she saw a Sandwing, she imagined it was Blister, and drove her claws as hard as she could into them. Every time she saw a Rainwing fall, she shoved down the pain and bit down on the next opponent she could find. Every time she faltered, she remembered her friends who depended on her, and jumped back into battle with renewed vigor. Claws swiped, teeth flashed, flames billowed through the sky and globs of venom flew every which way. Through it all Tsunami flew, mind clear, adrenaline fueling her wings.

 _Fight them off. Defend your soldiers. Help is coming soon._ She repeated the mantra over and over for what felt like a small eternity, when a familiar roar sounded from behind her.

"Rainwings, attack! Drive back Blister's troops!"

She whipped her head around. There was Riptide, in all of his sky blue glory, flying at the head of a flight of Rainwings, all armed with blowguns and ready to fire. Her heart nearly burst with happiness.

Then she looked past Riptide and saw another group of dragons approaching. Their scales were as brown as mud, and they were armed and armored with spears and crocodile leather. Flying at their head were two figures, one blue, the other golden. She couldn't help the broad smile that lit up her face.

"Reinforcements are here," she shouted to her troops, "just hold out a little bit longer!"

The Sandwings took one look at the incoming wave of troops and bolted. With a loud call of retreat, the lead Sandwing and his troops fled above the treetops, heading west towards the mountains. The Rainwings gave chase, firing their blowguns in midair, though their accuracy was lacking at this range and speed. Soon the invaders were nothing more than specks in the distant sky. Tsunami noticed that of the twelve Sandwings that came, only five had escaped.

She'd done it. _They_ had done it. Her, Riptide, her friends and all the Rainwings. They had won their first battle, small as it was. Tsunami was practically drunk on victory.

"Ha! That'll show you desert rats! Why don't you go tell your false queen Blister that you were beaten by the _Rainwings_? See how she likes that!"

She breathed heavily, her wings beginning to ache, as did the rest of her body now that the battle lust was wearing off. Suddenly she felt a stab of pain along her lower back, a pain so debilitating she thought she would drop right out of the sky. She gasped, gritting her teeth, as her flight faltered.

"General? What's wrong?" a Rainwing asked.

"I'm…fine," she managed through clenched teeth.

"Tsunami? You're hurt!" said Riptide, swooping up beside her. "Oh, this looks bad. Quick, we need to get you to the healers' hut."

"I said I'm fine, mmm-urrgh."

"You've been stabbed by a Sandwing's barb, Tsunami, you're in no shape to continue leading today. I'll regroup the soldiers and get the wounded back to the healers. You two!" he called to two Rainwings, "head to the healers now. Tell them the battle is over, and we need their stock of cactus juice for Sandwing poison wounds open and ready. Go!"

"No, stop, I order you Riptide," said Tsunami as the world began pitching dangerously around her. "We need to…Sunny and…Mudwings…"

"Riptide! What's going on? What's wrong with Tsunami?" said a familiar voice that was fading in and out of Tsunami's consciousness.

"Sandwing venom. Can you and Webs…to healers?"

"Of co…in there…nami…"

"No…no…the battle…Blister's…" Her thoughts were a scrambled mess as darkness creeped in on her mind. Her breathing was shallow, her muscles cramping. She tasted bile in the back of her throat.

The last thing Tsunami saw before she blacked out was the body of a Rainwing lodged in a tree. Its chest was black, the tendrils of the Sandwing poison having spread through its body and out to its limbs. Its pale eyes were glassy, gazing up at the sunny blue skies above the rainforest.

It did not breathe anymore.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope that was an exciting end to the chapter. After nine long chapters, it's finally here. Blister has drawn first blood and started the war between her and the dragonets! Will the dragonets be able to defeat Blister, or will the Queen of Poison slowly claim her victims? Find out in the next exciting chapter of _Under a War-Torn Sky_! Which should hopefully come some time soon...as in not in another two weeks. XP

One thing I've been meaning to ask, if it's not too much. So far I've been using a random picture on my computer's library for the cover image of this story - you know, that random picture of the plateau in the desert? XD Anyway, I don't really feel the image is fitting for the story, I just put it on there as a placeholder because, well, I'm not an artist. I contemplated doing a Google search for Wings of Fire art, both official and fan-made, but I was nervous about using pictures that I maybe, sort of, did not have permission to use. So I'm humbly requesting that, if you are at all artistically talented, you send me any pictures of potential cover art for this story. I'd like it centered on the five main dragonets, since this story is about them mostly. If, perhaps, you want to add Blister since she's the main antagonist, that's fine as well. Or if you know of any art that's allowed on Fanfiction, you can point me in the general direction as well. (I see a lot of people on this site have custom art for their stories, so if they can use it then there shouldn't be a big reason why I can't...)

Anyway, shoot me a PM with the link if you have some art on, say, DeviantArt or wherever that you think fits. I'll gladly look at anything you guys think will serve as a good cover image for this story. Once again, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day.

Or night. It's currently midnight while I'm writing this. Hopefully I'll have a good night of _sleep_ before work tomorrow morning. :P

~SpicyDog99


	10. Sins of Our Loved Ones

Sins of Our Loved Ones

Though he could not see it, Starflight had no trouble hearing the battle.

The furious beating of wings, a flurry of currents through the air. Jambu's panicked screaming, fading into the distance as Tsunami's authoritative voice took control. The flutter of birds as they took to the sky, startled by the impending clash of the sky's alpha predators. Roars, distorted by the trees and distance. The hiss of flame, the sharp _screech_ as claws skittered along hardened scales. Cries of rage, fear, anguish—the sounds of pain and struggle renewed.

War had returned to Pyrrhia. Starflight was almost glad he was blind. The Skywing arena, the Mudwing battlefield, the burning Seawing Summer Palace—none of those were things he wished to see again.

"You OK, Star?"

He felt Fatespeaker brush his left wing, both guiding him through the trees and showing her concern. They bobbed unsteadily in the air, their arms laden with as many scrolls as they could take from the library treehouse. Starflight nodded, the flaps of the blindfold brushing against his ears as the wind blew past them.

"I'm alright," he said. "You?"

He sensed a slight tremor pass along her wing as he touched it.

"Nervous. I didn't think they'd get here so soon. I'm worried about Tsunami—what if something happens to her? What if something happens to the Rainwings? What if the Sandwings find our village?" He heard her gulp. "So many things can go wrong…"

Starflight was just as scared. Always he'd been the one on the sidelines, watching his friends risk scale and wing to protect him and Sunny. He had always wanted to be brave like Tsunami or loyal like Clay, but every time danger reared its ugly head, its cousin fear would paralyze him. He tried so hard to fight it, but every time the mind-numbing panic would win. He despised his cowardice, hated how it robbed him of the one thing he was proud of: his smarts. Without his brains, without the founts of knowledge he'd gathered over years of reading scrolls, Starflight was nothing more than a helpless dragonet. A burden, a disgrace. A failure, as Morrowseer had so bluntly branded him.

Fear was his constant nemesis. Sure, he'd won a victory over it when he saved his tribe from a volcanic death, but still it dogged his every wingbeat. However he did learn one thing. Running from fear would never make it go away. Hiding from it would not make it disappear. Only confronting it would force its paralyzing tendrils from his mind. Now, more than ever, he and his friends needed to face their fears.

"I'm scared too," he admitted, "but I can't let that stop me from helping my friends. We need to get these scrolls to safety, make sure they don't get damaged or stolen by Blister's troops. I have faith in Tsunami—she and the Rainwings have been training constantly these past weeks. If there's anyone who can take on Blister, it'd be her."

Fatespeaker didn't reply. The humid air of the rainforest whisked by, making a soft whistling sound as it passed over the dragons' wings.

"It's OK to be scared, Fatespeaker. We'll make it through this, together."

They flew on in silence. Before long Fatespeaker guided Starflight down with a tap on his wing, saying, "We're here. Careful on the landing, the ground's coming up."

His claws met the soft, mossy turf with a muffled _whump_. He wobbled a bit, a couple scrolls spilling out of his grasp. He heard the rustle of paper as Fatespeaker bent to retrieve them.

"Thanks."

He felt her still outstretched wing touch his shoulder momentarily. "Let's go. We should store them in the library hut. This way."

They made their way through the village, Fatespeaker guiding him through the crowd that had gathered outside, wondering what the commotion was. He heard whispers as they passed the various huts and lean-tos.

"It's one of the dragonets. The blind one…"

"Mastermind's son—"

"—with that Fatespeaker dragonet—"

"Why do they have so many scrolls?"

"Moons-begotten traitors. If it weren't for them…"

"…wouldn't be stuck with a Rainwing for…"

He and Fatespeaker had made several trips back to the Nightwing village over the past weeks to reorganize the scrolls and check in on things. Their reception was always frosty at the best of times, though thanks to the Rainwing guards stationed around the area nothing hostile ever occurred. Starflight and Fatespeaker ignored them—defending themselves never went anywhere with the stubborn elders of the tribe. They simply pressed on towards their goal, a small storage hut situated near the edge of the village.

"Well. Look who's decided to pay his tribe a visit."

The voice came from directly in front of him, laced with spite and contempt. Despite her name, Starflight had never found his sister to be fierce in any way, yet still he shied away from her voice.

"Fierceteeth," he greeted. He'd had a few run-ins with her since they'd caught her and Strongwings nearly a week ago. He heard the shuffle of claws and guessed that the Rainwing guards flanking her were preparing for a possible scuffle.

"What brings you and your little lovebird today? Another scroll run, by the looks of it?"

Beside him, Fatespeaker tensed, her claws digging into his scales where she held him by the arm. Starflight touched her tail with his, before continuing.

"Blister's troops have attacked."

"They've _what?_ " Fierceteeth practically shouted. He felt the gazes of a dozen dragons turn toward him, their attention caught at this disturbing news.

"Some of her troops just stumbled on the Rainwing village a few moments ago. Tsunami and her troops are fighting back. We're not sure if the village will hold, so we've gathered the most important scrolls and taken them here where they should be safe."

"Blister found us?" said someone from behind. "How? Shouldn't the Rainwings have scouts out watching the borders?"

"Of course they wouldn't," said Fierceteeth. "They're Rainwings. They care little enough for their own safety, let alone ours. I'm surprised they didn't sleep right through the attack."

"By the moons, is _this_ what we get for protection?" said another dragon, his voice raspy with age. "That cursed dragonet can't even keep her own tribe safe. How is she supposed to protect us? If the Sandwings reach us we'll be doomed, again!"

"Tsunami and Glory have the situation contained," said Starflight, turning to address the dragons around him. "Just stay calm and keep going about your business. We'll keep you up to date on things as they happen."

"Will you now?" Fierceteeth's voice dripped with scorn. "So you've suddenly decided to start caring about your tribe again?"

He bristled. "I've _always_ cared about the tribe, Fierceteeth. I cared so much for the tribe that I convinced Glory to let us live in the rainforest instead of leaving us to die on the island. Things may be harsh now, living in an unfamiliar area with another tribe's queen ruling over us. But I firmly believe that this is better than dying in a volcanic blast. I of all dragons should know." He nudged Fatespeaker gently. "C'mon, let's go. We don't have time to waste."

They trudged on past Fierceteeth, the village silent as it watched them go.

"You have no idea what you've put us through, Starflight," he heard from behind.

As they moved out of earshot, Fatespeaker growled quietly, "I hate it when she does that. Just goes and ruins your day, all because she hates Glory. I wish she'd stop blaming you for the Nightwings being here."

Starflight shook his head. More than anything Fierceteeth frustrated him with her stubborn refusal to accept the Nightwings' situation. At first he was glad that Glory hadn't been forced to remove her and Strongwings from the rainforest. Now, he wondered if the tribe wouldn't be better off without her constant talk of opposing Glory's rule. All she was doing was creating a bigger rift between the Rainwings and Nightwings.

Still, Fierceteeth was family. Despite her attitude toward him, he felt a small ounce of hesitance toward outright disowning her.

"She's just having a hard time adjusting," he said half-heartedly.

"We all are. That doesn't give her an excuse."

"Just give her some time. She'll realize sooner or later that the tribe needs Glory."

Fatespeaker sighed. "I hope so. Here's the library—watch your step going up the ramp."

Finally. Starflight's arms were getting tired under the giant bundle of scrolls. He was positive all this constant scroll-carrying was making him stronger. It was about the only form of exercise he had, regrettably.

"Alright," he said, gently laying the stack on the wooden floorboards. "Let's see about getting these scrolls sorted."

They set to work organizing their load into the rows of scroll racks; Fatespeaker read the scroll titles out loud and Starflight figured out where they should go. They hadn't had time to grab all the scrolls, just the most important ones: intel reports on Blister's movements, rumors from across Pyrrhia, and warfare tactics and strategies. Hopefully they wouldn't lose anything vital in the Rainwing village.

Halfway through the process Fatespeaker stopped. "Oh, hi there! Are you looking for a scroll?"

Starflight turned toward the entrance of the hut. He barely caught the quiet, nervous reply.

"U-uh, actually, I wanted to return…one…" It sounded female, a young dragonet likely. The soft rustle of paper on scales greeted his ears.

"Great! Hope you enjoyed reading it." He heard Fatespeaker unroll the scroll to look at its title. "Ooh, _Tales of the Nightwings_. This one is Starflight's favorite—though he says we need to rewrite it now and correct all the mistakes in it. Say, I haven't seen you around here much. What's your name?"

Silence. Claws scraped against wood, as if the dragonet was about to bolt.

"Wait, don't go! You're not bothering us or anything, we're just sorting scrolls here. Boring work, really. My name's Fatespeaker. What's yours?"

"Moon…uh, Moonwatcher."

"Well, thanks for stopping by," said Starflight. "The scrolls in here are for everyone, so feel free to read any you like so long as you return it. You come by often?"

"Y-yeah. I, um, like reading."

Fatespeaker chuckled. "Well, you're in good company. If there's anything you need just give us a holler, alright?"

"Erm, OK." Talons thunked on wood as Moon abruptly turned to leave.

"'Kay, bye! It's been nice chatting with…you." Her voice dropped off as the patter of the dragonet's claws faded into the distance. "Hope she's OK. She looked really scared, like we were going to hurt her or something."

"Hmm. Let's keep an eye out for her. Seems like she'll need it."

They finished up their task, stashing the sensitive information in a few racks near the back of the hut, before heading out the entrance. The midday sun beat down on the two, their black scales absorbing the strong light. Between the heat and the humidity, Starflight found himself panting. Perhaps there was one thing the Nightwings would have a tough time getting used to—the rainforest's warm, muggy climate.

"Tsunami told us to stay here," said Fatespeaker. "But I'm worried about the others. Do you we should go back and check on them?"

Starflight held up a claw. "Before we do, I want to meet someone really quick."

"Who?"

He turned away from her inquisitive gaze. "Glory said she had my father locked up in the village after the night our tribe got here. I haven't spoken to him since then."

He sensed Fatespeaker's affirmation. "Glory had a small prison built a bit away from the village. I'll lead you there, it isn't far."

She led him down a dirt path that meandered through the trees. Ferns brushed his legs as the sounds of the Nightwing village faded, replaced with the howls and calls of monkeys and toucans. Starflight sniffed, and stuck his tongue out to scent the air. It was hot and muggy as always, though it bore the faint, sweet scents of flowers scattered around the path.

It wasn't long before Fatespeaker brought him to a halt. "Here we are. He's in a lean-to set next to a big tree—Glory had the Rainwings put some thick bamboo stalks in front to keep him in. There are two guards here at all times. They take shifts to watch him, and give him food and water every morning and night."

"How long will he be in there?" asked Starflight.

She hesitated a moment. "Glory hasn't decided yet. She's been too busy managing both of the tribes to deal with Mastermind. For now she'll keep him here until she thinks he's ready to be released."

"Halt!" said one of the Rainwing guards, who might have been intimidating if he hadn't sounded so chipper. "Only Her Majesty and her friends can see the prisoner."

"We _are_ Glory's friends," said Fatespeaker, quickly introducing herself and Starflight. "He wants to see his father really quick before we head back to the Rainwing village."

He heard the guard gasp. "You're Starflight? The blind dragonet of destiny? This is super exciting, I never thought I'd meet someone so impor—"

"Ahem," said the other guard, "Pay attention, Tangerine. They want to see the prisoner."

That voice sounded familiar. Could it really be…?

"Orchid!" said Fatespeaker. She bounded forward out of Starflight's reach. "It's been so long since we've seen you. How have you been? You look so much better already."

"It's good to see you to, Fatespeaker. I've been alright—a little weak the first couple days, but Mangrove nursed me back to health. And it's good to see you too, Starflight. I'm sorry about what happened to your eyes," she said quietly.

Starflight dipped his head in acknowledgement. "No worries, I'm fine. What are you doing here? I thought you'd want to be with Mangrove."

"Well," she began, "with everything that's been going on, Glory has been too busy to really bother with _this_ one." Starflight imagined Orchid's scales turning a shade of red. "I wanted to repay her for rescuing us, so I volunteered to help keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't escape and do anything else to us. It seemed fitting to be his jailor after being his prisoner for so long."

"I'd still like to speak to him. Privately," he said, emphasizing the last word.

"Alright. But make it quick. Let's go, Tangerine," said Orchid as she and the other guard left them.

Starflight and Fatespeaker stepped up to the bars. Unexpectedly, he heard the sound of a scroll rolling up.

"Ahh, Starflight. And Fatespeaker," said Mastermind. His voice halted as Starflight felt Mastermind gaze at him, noting the blindfold that permanently signaled his disability. "It's good to see you both."

"You have a scroll?" said Fatespeaker. "How'd you get your claws on that?"

"Well, what else do you expect me to do all day? I requested to be let out multiple times just to stretch my wings a bit, but the guards have always turned me down. So instead I asked for a scroll and ink, and surprisingly Orchid found me some. And no, the irony of her being my jailor is not lost on me." Starflight heard him sigh irritably.

"What do you do all day?" Starflight asked. "Do you just write?"

"I mostly jot down my thoughts, in keeping with the daily log I used to have back on the island. I also take notes on all the life forms I can see from in here. It's fascinating! This rainforest truly is a scholar's dream—so many diverse organisms living in such a complex, yet balanced ecosystem. I can only see a small portion of it from inside this cage, yet I've already filled lengths of this scroll with observations. Ahh, if only I hadn't lost all my equipment when we fled the island. The research I could do, the experiments I could conduct…"

"Father," said Starflight, an edge to his voice, "you know that your research is what landed you behind these bars in the first place."

Mastermind sighed loudly through his nose. "Yes, I do. Not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of the things I did to the Rainwings in pursuit of science. I know you don't approve of what I've done, Starflight, and I understand why."

"Do you, father? Or are just going to say it was all 'for science' in the end, like you always do? Stop looking at everything like they're test subjects waiting for you to experiment on. You imprisoned innocent dragons—had them kidnapped from their homes—just so you could figure out what made them tick. You did it just to satisfy your selfish curiosity and fill the Nightwing library."

Starflight paced back and forth, his claws digging deep into the silty earth, muscles tense.

"But, Starflight—"

"Ever since I was a hatchling I imagined what my parents would be like. We all did, the five of us; how could we not? All the scrolls I read under the mountain said that Nightwings valued education more than any other tribe in Pyrrhia. You can probably guess that I imagined my parents to be brilliant scientists, going out and making amazing discoveries that they shared for the benefit of dragonkind.

"When I first met you, father, it was my dream come true. I thought I'd finally found the one place on the Nightwing island where I could fit in: working and learning beside my father, a scientist just like in my dreams. Do you know how many nights I spent fantasizing about it?"

Starflight stopped. His voice came out shaky.

"And then I saw what you were really doing. I saw what your 'science' truly was. I saw you hurt dragons just so you could learn how to counter their defenses. I didn't want to believe that the father I'd been dreaming about my entire life would do something so horrible." He shook his head sadly. "But what kind of a coward would I be if I denied something so obvious? No. I'm sorry, father, but I can't look at what you've done and call it 'science'. It's a crime, through and through."

He sat still, blindfolded eyes gazing in Mastermind's direction. For a long time he didn't speak. Only the sounds of the rainforest's residents could be heard.

"Being behind bars gives a dragon a lot of time with his thoughts," said Mastermind. "It lets him look back on his actions, see them from every angle, shine them in a different light. I've certainly had plenty of time to think over my actions, and I see now how harmful my research has been. I've kept from making further notes on the Rainwings—it's mostly meaningless, but I feel that it compensates a little for the things I did to them."

He sniffed, shifted himself slightly.

"You've grown so much, Starflight. I must be honest, I'd also dreamed that our son would be smart, that he'd continue the Nightwings' tradition of scholarship. And you've more than fulfilled that dream—it's certainly more than I've ever been for you. If only Farsight could see you now. Your mother would be so proud of you. As am I, Starflight."

Starflight fidgeted, wrapping his tail around his rear talons. "I don't need your pride, father. I need you to promise, to me, that you'll _never_ experiment on Rainwings or any other dragon tribe again. You can ask them what you want, learn anything you want about their lives and culture. But you will never treat them like lab rats again. Understood?"

"Understood," said Mastermind solemnly. "Not that I could conduct experiments even if I had my stuff. This 'prison' is hardly big enough to keep me dry. Any word from your friend on how much longer I'm to stay in here?"

"No," said Fatespeaker. "Glory is a bit busy right now. I've heard that she's thinking of letting the Rainwings vote on how long you'll be imprisoned."

Mastermind barked out a laugh. "Then I'm not getting out of here anytime soon. Fair enough, I suppose. I wish you and your friends luck on fighting Blister's lackeys."

"Thanks, I guess," said Starflight. "Let's go, Fatespeaker."

"You know, for what it's worth, I never believed that Morrowseer's plan would work," said Mastermind as they turned to leave. "Too many variables, needlessly convoluted, and it all hedged on the one Sandwing sister who was too smart for her own good. I said as much to Morrowseer when he asked for my opinion. That was the last time I was ever invited to speak at the council."

Despite himself, Starflight smiled. "You didn't like Morrowseer either?"

Mastermind scoffed. "He's as insufferable as the rest of the old geezers that populate the council chamber. Too high and mighty to actually step back and take a look at what he was spouting out of his muzzle. Small wonder I spent all of my time down in the lab—less noise down there, wouldn't you agree?"

Starflight nodded. "For once, father, I do."

They headed back down the path, passing Orchid and Tangerine on the way. Starflight thanked them for letting him speak with Mastermind and told them they could return to their posts.

"Pardon me for asking," said Orchid, "but you still seem to be on speaking terms with your father."

He shrugged. "Family is family. I guess I haven't completely given up on him yet."

She humphed. "I see. You two have a good day now."

As they headed back to the Rainwing village, Starflight wondered why he hadn't given up on Mastermind and Fierceteeth. What kept him tied to a father and sister who had never been there for him? Was he a coward for not disowning them? Certainly any of his friends would have done so by now.

Or would they? Starflight thought of the examples he'd seen so far. Glory didn't know her parents, while Clay's didn't give a vulture's squawk about him. Neither one seemed to have problems accepting that their parents didn't care about them. But Tsunami loved her mother despite the fact that she imprisoned them all at Blister's persuasion. And Sunny absolutely loved her mother. Her father? Less so, though she certainly didn't hate him.

 _When you really think about it,_ he thought, _none of us have perfect parents. But that hasn't stopped us from at least reaching out to them._

It wasn't cowardly to accept imperfect family, he realized. It was brave, actually, to stick with family members who didn't measure up, and try to turn them around instead. It was faithful, loyal—things Starflight had wanted to be for so long. Mastermind was already making attempts to change, and while Fatespeaker would take a bit more effort, Starflight wanted to at least give his close-minded sister a chance.

He hoped he could prove her wrong. He hoped he could show her that Rainwings and Nightwings could get along, and rise up stronger together.

If they couldn't, the fight against Blister would be much, much harder.

* * *

 **A/N:** Shorter chapter this time, but hey, it's a bit of downtime from the hectic action of last chapter. Don't worry, we'll be getting back to the others soon.

I was kind of disappointed that Starflight never really tied things up with Mastermind in the main books. Sure, there was that final bit near the end of _The Dark Secret_ , but that was still barely there. I also feel like Mastermind, whose name suggests he has more than a few cells in that noggin, seemed uncharacteristically oblivious to what he was doing. Surely he would have realized what he was doing to his test subjects, even if he didn't fully care about them. Instead he simply says "it was all for science" and such, before Sutherland tosses him out of the story. (Speaking of which, I know that in _Winter Turning_ it's mentioned that Glory imprisoned Mastermind in a pit of quicksand. I've decided to give Mastermind a more traditional incarceration in my story because a) it's more convenient, and b) how on earth do you imprison someone in quicksand without killing them? Makes no sense...)

We'll be seeing a bit more of Fierceteeth later in the story. Moonwatcher? Eh, sorry, not so much. I just thought it'd be a nice cameo to see her stumble on Starflight and Fatespeaker, and perhaps be treated nicely by members of her own tribe for once. She _may_ appear later - I have some ideas of her interacting with Mastermind, but nothing is guaranteed.

Well, that's a wrap for tonight. It's currently 2 AM as I'm writing this, and I have work again tomorrow. }:( What is it with me always updating in the middle of the night? Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

~SpicyDog99


	11. Playing War

Playing War

Sand. Heat. Shimmering air. She blinked blearily, gazing at the stark-white dunes around her. They were her element, her home. Yet now the sands looked foreign, alien. She panted, the heat oppressive. How could this be? She was a Sandwing—heat did not faze her. Yet her flesh felt like it was baking beneath her scales.

Arbitrarily she picked a direction and moved, her claws sinking into the scalding sand. Her wings were numb, limp. She looked up at the bright blue sky, its azure depths drawing her in. Vertigo twisted her mind; abruptly she shook her head, willing the spinning to stop. She kept going, one step at a time, trudging slowly across the desolate expanse.

A shape appeared on the horizon, growing larger as she headed towards it. She squinted—it was a dragon, a large one, slumped over, unmoving. Something protruded from the side of its skull. As she approached the dragon, she realized with a start that it was a spear, its tip embedded deep into the dragon's eye.

"By the moons…"

It was her mother. Queen Oasis, former matriarch of the Sandwing tribe. All the details were there—the diamondback scales, the jewelry, the spear in the eye, even the severed end of the tail. A snarl marked Oasis's features; the single remaining eye looked out, its inky blackness directed accusingly at her as she stared at her deceased mother.

"Mother? Mother, what's wrong?"

With a start she looked to her right. A small Sandwing dragonet crouched next to Oasis, prodding at the queen's body. The dragonet's scales glittered under the harsh light, the black diamonds standing out amid the tan scales.

"Wake up, mother! Wake up, please…"

No. It couldn't be. How…how could this be?

"Mama!" wailed the dragonet, throwing itself against Oasis, sobbing uncontrollably. "Please! I didn't mean it. I don't want to be queen."

Her breath hitched, heart pounding. The heat, the glare faded—she saw only the sobbing dragonet and Oasis. Blood howled through her ears. She swallowed, her mouth dry.

"Don't l-leave me. Don't you love me, mother? Mother? Say something! Mother…"

The dragonet…was her. Blister. Queen of Poison.

"No!" she shrieked. "Stop!"

The dragonet whirled around, staring at her with little black eyes, tears streaking the dirt on her scales.

"Y-you aren't me," Blister said. "You can't…no…I hated you, mother. You and your arrogant attitude. I'm glad you're dead. I wanted the throne, it was mine from the start!"

The dragonet opened its mouth. "My queen," it whispered. It stroked Oasis's body lovingly.

"Stop it. I said, stop it!" Blister tried to lunge forward, only for her claws to sink straight down. She flopped painfully onto the blistering sand.

"My queen."

"She's not your queen. _I'm_ the queen. You hear me?" She clawed at the sand, trying to pull herself forward, yet somehow slipping back every time.

"My queen."

"I'm Blister. Queen of Poison! Queen of the moon's forsaken Sandwings! I earned my throne, squashed every foe in my way to take it.

"My queen." Suddenly Oasis's body opened its mouth and said, "My queen."

"Wha…" Blister gripped the sand, tremors shaking her body.

"My queen…my queen…"

"My queen!"

Blister gasped, her head shooting up, eyes wide. She looked around—no sand, no heat, no Oasis, no dragonet. Just the dim interior of her tent and the loose pillows she'd been resting on. The entrance flap was slightly ajar, letting in the low evening light. Before her crouched a messenger, who'd sprung back in shock upon her sudden awakening.

"M-my queen, are you alright?"

As her heart rate returned to normal and the images faded from her eye, Blister growled softly and shook her head. "I'm fine. What is it?"

The young Sandwing glanced away uncertainly, before collecting himself and speaking.

"The scouts have returned, Your Majesty. You told us to wake you when they returned."

It took her a second to remember which scouts he was referring to. She nodded to the messenger and said, "Have Scarab report to me immediately."

As the messenger pushed out the entrance flap, Blister stood and stretched her cramped legs, arching her back and wings. She shook herself roughly, a feeling of unease spreading through her.

 _What was that? I've never had a dream as crazy as that before_. She still had trouble comprehending what she'd seen—her younger self, crying before her mother's body. She'd never done that in real life. Why would she dream about it now? It's not like she missed her mother, or regretted taking the throne. Right? No. Definitely not. It's what she'd wanted her entire life—to cast down her despicable mother and claim the throne that rightfully belonged to her.

"Must be this cursed rainforest," Blister muttered to herself as she ran a claw across her snout. "And all the nitwits under my command. If they were at all competent at their jobs, I wouldn't have to spend so much time—"

"Your Majesty?" said a voice. Blister turned to see a Sandwing stride into her tent and crouch low, snout to the ground in deference.

"Lieutenant Scarab. I hope you bring good news." She certainly needed some. The detachment she'd sent to Jade Mountain was having trouble finishing off the Outclaws, and Icicle's reinforcements were several days late, caught up in a freak sandstorm in the northern desert. If Scarab reported another failure, she swore someone was going to get flayed.

Fortunately, his report was anything but failure.

"We've found the Rainwing village. We startled one of their forward sentries, who fled upon seeing us. We gave chase and eventually followed him all the way to the village." A crooked grin spread across the Sandwing's face.

"Good. Report what you saw."

"The village is further to the east, hidden in a copse of tall trees. They have very little in the way of resistance, and what soldiers they do have seem poorly trained at best. When we entered the village nearly all of them were sleeping—it took about a minute to raise the alarm and muster their troops. They have no fortifications, just treehouses and platforms that are made of wood."

Blister nodded. "I assume you routed their forces?"

Scarab fidgeted. "They, uh, put up a good fight. We nailed a bunch of them, but there were too many."

Her eyes narrowed. "How many did you lose?" she said deliberately.

"S-seven. But Your Majesty," he interrupted before she could speak, "we spotted one of the dragonets."

"Did you now? Which one?"

"The Seawing, Tsunami. She was leading the resistance. Quite a fighter, that one. She was largely responsible for most of our casualties."

That Blister held no doubts about. She vividly remembered Coral's daughter from her visit to the Sea Kingdom. Of all the dragonets, Tsunami had been the biggest threat. Blister sorely regretted not targeting her sooner.

"Hmph. Well, I suppose your losses make more sense now. At the very least we've found the dragonets and the Rainwing village. That in itself was the biggest challenge; eliminating them now should be easy. Anything else, lieutenant?"

"One more thing. While we were retreating, I noticed a force of Mudwings flying into the village. It seems the dragonets have found new friends."

Blister's eyes narrowed. The tip of a sharp fang glimmered in the low light.

"How many?"

He cocked his head. "Maybe…two flights? Not too many, though I'm worried that more will come soon."

 _Mudwings. Curse those swamp heathens._ Blister had learned many things in the twenty long years of the War of the Sandwing Secession, the foremost being to _never_ underestimate Mudwing soldiers. She would never say it out loud, but she had to admit that Burn made a smart move allying herself with the swamp-loving tribe, whose armored scales proved difficult for her Seawings and Sandwings to counter. Crushing the Rainwings was going to be much more difficult if they had Mudwing support. She had to strike now, before more arrived.

"Go get General Sahara. Have her meet me here in half an hour."

"Of course, Your Majesty." He bowed one last time before exiting.

Blister stepped out of the tent to get some air before meeting Sahara. Around her, her Sandwing army bustled, set in motion after days of lethargy by news of the Rainwing village's location. Her force was hidden in the foothills of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, within striking distance of the rainforest but well clear of its claustrophobic interior and stealthy occupants. The sun was setting behind the mountains, casting a fiery glow on the forest to the east.

Slowly Blister smiled. Ever since she'd gotten here she'd wanted nothing more than to tear into the rainforest and slaughter the Rainwings that had defied her at the peace meeting. But she knew that would only end in failure—her forces would get lost and spread out, easy pickings for even the useless Rainwings. So she reigned in her desires, waiting patiently—a serpent coiled and ready to spring.

The time to strike had come. Blister breathed in and sighed. She could practically smell the smoke already.

* * *

Clay was taking his daily flight with Peril when the cries of alarm first reached his ears. Over the past several days since he'd awakened from his coma, his leg had healed quickly, enabling him to slowly begin exercising it with Peril's assistance. He'd been eager to take to the sky again—after spending so much time bedridden, he felt claustrophobic and cooped up. So he soon began mixing some flying in with his daily exercise, looping around the Rainwing village and keeping an eye on things. On every flight Peril faithfully stayed with him, helping with his rehabilitation and keeping him company.

As soon as Clay heard the words "Sandwing" and "attack", he turned to Peril, his voice wavering with shock.

"Blister's attacking? Already?" How did she find them? Was there something obvious they missed that gave away their location? Did one of her scouts spot him and Peril on one of their flights? He'd always been the one to mess things up…

"We need to get back," said Peril, the tip of her wing brushing warmly against his as she guided him back toward the direction of the village. "They're going to need our help."

They rushed back as quickly as they could, swooping around branches and weaving between the treetops. The wind picked up, buffeting their wings, speeding past with a ghostly whoosh, as if whispering haunting cries of anguish.

 _She comes. The one of poison. She comes._

The healer's hut soon appeared in front of them; even from a distance Clay could see the chaotic mass of dragons. Young dragonets, elder dragons, and all sorts of Rainwings crowded the treehouse and the platform outside. Their voices rose and fell, fear and anxiety rolling off them. Cries and wails permeated the air; dragons bumped and jostled each other as they tried to fit in the hut.

They circled the healer's hut, trying to find a place to land, but the entire platform was crowded with Rainwings, their scales shifting erratically between green, blue, and white. Clay spotted Glory standing on the roof of the hut next to Deathbringer, her scales a deep burgundy as she attempted to organize the tribe. Her authoritative voice rose above the ruckus.

"Everyone, stay calm! We have this under control. The Sandwings will be kept out of the village; Tsunami will make sure of that. Move towards the back, make room for others. No running, no shoving, there's enough room for everyone."

Clay shot a look at Peril. Her bright blue eyes were fraught with uncertainty.

"C'mon, Glory needs help," he said, before wheeling towards the roof of the treehouse. Glory spotted them as they swooped in to land and waved them down. Carefully, Clay flared out his wings, catching as much air as he could to slow himself down before touching down as gingerly as he could. Still, he winced slightly as his injured leg took the weight of the landing. The healers had removed the bandages a couple days prior, when the wound had scabbed over and the bleeding had stopped. They had cautioned him not to put too much weight on it, but that proved difficult to avoid with certain actions, like landing.

 _I wonder if it'll hurt like this,_ he thought _, every time I try to use my leg._ Inwardly Clay grimaced; though he would never regret sacrificing himself to save his friends, it became increasingly difficult for him to see his friends moving about so effortlessly while he limped with every step. How could he help and protect his friends if he could scarcely keep up with them?

"Clay," said Glory, "you're a sight for sore eyes. Riptide's gone off to gather the rest of the fighters, and Starflight's headed off to the Nightwing village with our scrolls. Sunny _still_ hasn't returned—what's taking that little Sandwing so long?" She raised her head and scanned the horizon to the east, searching for even a hint of yellow. Unfortunately, the healer's hut didn't have the best vantage point in the forest, as large trees blocked it off from outside view.

"I can go look for—"

"I'll see if I can find Sunny," said Peril, turning to takeoff again.

Clay frowned. Not this again.

"It's OK, Peril. You don't need to do this for me," he said, reaching for her wing to pull her back.

"I'm not," she retorted, dancing out of his reach. "I'm faster and can search farther than you, Clay. Glory needs you here to help with her tribe."

"Look, just because my leg—"

Peril groaned. "For the last time, this has _nothing_ to do with your leg. Look, I'll head out to the northeast and see what's holding up Sunny and Webs. I'll find them and escort them back as fast as I can." With a whoosh of her powerful golden-streaked wings, she leapt off the treehouse and winged her way into the sky, heading northeast as swiftly as she could.

 _If only I could actually believe that,_ Clay thought.

"It's fine, Clay," said Glory dismissively as he turned back to her. "Look, can you and Deathbringer get down there and keep these buffoons from accidentally trampling each other?"

Deathbringer huffed. "While you, what, stand up here and look pretty?"

" _I_ will keep watch up here in case Blister's troops make it this far," she shot back at him. "We'll evacuate if that happens."

"Evacuate? To where?"

She growled in frustration. "Look around you, Death. We're in the middle of the largest rainforest in Pyrrhia with a tribe of dragons that can camouflage at will. Where do you _think_ we'll hide?"

Deathbringer looked away, gazing out across the mass of scared, uncooperative Rainwings.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Glory," he murmured.

Meanwhile, Clay had already hopped down to the platform to get to work. He wasn't entirely sure how to keep the Rainwings from accidentally trampling each other, but he figured at least herding them away from the edge of the platform was a good start. He spread his wings out as wide as they'd go and started moving dragons toward the hut, repeating Glory's words to stay calm and avoid pushing each other. Some of the Rainwings recognized him and perked up, changing their scales to match his brown ones. For a reason he still couldn't figure out, Clay remained quite popular with the Rainwings, and his presence quickly stilled most of the screams and cries.

"That's it, everyone," he said, his voice even and calm, "keep your wings and tails to yourself, and squeeze in close. We'll keep you safe, no matter what."

"It's da Bigwings!" said a little dragonet enthusiastically. He bounded over and tilted his head back to take in the bigger dragon. "Wow, you're big!"

"Uh, thanks?" said Clay, sheepishly scratching his head.

Whispers of "Bigwings" swept through the crowd as more Rainwings turned toward him, awe and admiration in their eyes. A few more turned their scales the same color as his.

"Quite the popular one, aren't you?" said Deathbringer from behind. The Nightwing stepped forward to investigate Clay's work. Most of the dragons were more or less inside the hut now—they'd quieted down now, most of their scales a more neutral grey color.

"Yeah…I still don't know why," said Clay.

The Nightwing cocked a wry smile. "Well, at least _one_ of us is liked by the tribe."

Clay shot him a look of confusion. But Deathbringer had already turned away and jumped back onto the roof of the hut where Glory acted as lookout.

Time passed slowly, the Rainwings settling in quietly. More than a few had fallen asleep already, likely catching up on their interrupted sun time. Clay curled up near the entrance to the hut, giving his aching leg some much needed rest. In the distance, the sounds of battle reverberated through the trees, the dense forest distorting the roars and screams of dragons into ghostly rumbles and whistles. Despite the calm, Clay worried about his friends, especially Tsunami, who was likely fighting out there right now. Of the five of them Tsunami was the best equipped for fighting, yet Clay couldn't shake the thought that she might get badly wounded, and he wouldn't be there to help her.

His thoughts were interrupted by Peril's voice coming from the east.

"Reinforcements! The Mudwings are here!"

Clay's head shot up. He stumbled to his claws and stopped at the edge of the platform in time to see Peril shoot past, yelling, "This way, the battle's this way!" Behind her flew a formation of Mudwings, led by Webs and Sunny. At the tail end of the formation came two large Mudwings garbed in thick leather armor from neck to tail. They broke off from the rest of the formation and swooped down to meet him.

"Hello," said one of the Mudwings, a male. "You're Clay, aren't you? One of the dragonets of destiny?"

Clay nodded nervously. "Y-yes."

"I'm Caiman. And this is Heron," he said, gesturing to the female Mudwing beside him. "We are Moorhen's sibs. We were sent with this contingent to check on conditions in the rainforest. We'll be lending any help as necessary."

"We'll also be deciding if your lot is worth the trouble of additional reinforcements," said Heron, who was scanning the surroundings with a critical eye.

Clay started. Moorhen's sibs? He had only ever seen them from a distance. What was he supposed to say to royalty?

"Oh. W-well, um, uh…hi? I-I'm Clay, uh—"

"Thank you very much for coming, sir and madam," Glory said smoothly, leaping gracefully from the hut roof onto the platform. She approached them with a calm smile on her face, her scales deep burgundy.

"I know this isn't much to look at right now, but that's only because we were caught off guard. I assure you we've been doing our best to safeguard the rainforest and prevent Blister from invading any further. My friend Tsunami has organized her troops, and they're holding off the Sandwings right—"

"Is that her over there?" asked Heron, looking off to the west. "Because she doesn't look too good."

Clay whipped around—what he saw made his heart plummet to the forest floor. Two Rainwings were rushing towards them, shouting something about needing cactus juice. Behind them, Webs and Sunny were carrying Tsunami's limp body, their flight jerky as they attempted to balance their load. A nasty gash tore across Tsunami's back. Even from a distance Clay could see the telltale black tendrils of Sandwing poison.

"Great moons…" said Glory. "We need to clear out the healer's hut now. Clay, give me a hand here, will you?

"I…uh…" At a loss for words, Clay shook his head and tried to help out as best as he could. Unfortunately, while herding Rainwings into the hut proved easy enough, getting them to come _out_ in an orderly fashion wasn't. Confused and frightened by the news of their incapacitated general, the Rainwings became a chaotic mess yet again—some tried to squeeze their way out of the door or windows, while others remained paralyzed in fear, effectively obstructing the exits. Through all of this Caiman and Heron watched, stoic and impassive.

"Glory, Clay!" shouted Sunny as she and Webs landed on the hut roof, Tsunami's body hanging listlessly between them. "What's going on? Where are the healers?"

 _This won't work,_ thought Clay. _There's not enough room in here for the healers to work! It'll take too long to clear everyone out…what do we do?_

He caught Glory's eye amid the throng of scales and wings and saw her thinking the same thing.

"Just grab the cactus juice," she shouted over the din, "and bring it up to the roof!"

With a nod, Clay pushed his way through the crowd, shoving past Rainwings and stepping on more than a few tails in the process. For once his great, clumsy bulk came in handy, as it let him push past the smaller, lighter Rainwings with ease. Keeping his wings folded tight to his body and his head down, he eventually made it to the storage chest on the far side of the hut. He quickly opened the chest and rifled through its contents, before carefully pulling out several of the cactus pods and heading outside. He leapt onto the roof of the hut, where Webs and Sunny had laid Tsunami. Her breathing was shallow, her body rigid with pain. The inky venom had spread far, its tendrils creeping toward her wings and down her flanks.

"Here, give me those," said Sunny, relieving Clay of the cacti. With practiced expertise she cracked a pod in half and slowly dripped its inner juices onto Tsunami's wound. Her back arched in agony, a faint whimper escaping through her tightly clenched teeth.

"Shh, it's alright, Tsunami," said Sunny soothingly. "You're gonna be OK, just a little bit more…"

"Please tell me she's alright," said Riptide, sweeping in as the rest of the Mudwings and Rainwings that chased off Blister's forces returned. "Our first battle, and something like this happens. How could I let her run off like that?"

"It's not your fault, Riptide" said Clay, offering a wing for Riptide, who had buried his snout in his claws. "None of us knew this was going to happen."

"She'll pull through," said Webs, moving over to his son's side. "In all my years raising Tsunami, she's proven herself to be a tough girl."

"You sure about that, father?"

He nodded, turning to Sunny. "Sunny? How's her condition?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for Sunny's response. The little Sandwing stared intently at Tsunami's wound, the healer within her analyzing the effects of the cactus juice. The inky tendrils of the Sandwing's poison gradually faded from Tsunami's scales. Her labored breathing slowed, and her body visibly relaxed. Soon she was resting peacefully, her drained body desperately receiving its much needed rest.

"I think she's stabilized now," Sunny said, sighing deeply. "That was a close one…what happened guys? I thought Blister didn't know where the village was?"

"Didn't," said Glory, a peeved expression on her face, "until they flew straight past our sentries and into the village."

"What? How?" Sunny cocked her head to one side.

Riptide shook his head, eyes closed. "It was sun time—when the Rainwings are too sleepy to do anything useful." He turned to the incoming Rainwing troops, some of whom were bearing their injured and fallen comrades in their claws.

"Bring the wounded and dead to the training platform. Treat them as best as you can, the healers will be there soon."

As the solemn troops flew off, a voice piped up from behind. "How many casualties did you suffer?"

Clay turned around to see Caiman and Heron poking their heads above the roof of the hut. Caiman looked grim while Heron had a scowl on her face. Her amber eyes drilled into Riptide, her eyebrows lowered in disapproval.

Riptide fidgeted under the large Mudwing's gaze. His eyes were downcast as he gave the bad news.

"Ten dead, at least a dozen more wounded. Though some of the wounded may be joining their fallen comrades soon…"

Heron snorted. Caiman spared a warning glare at her before saying, "And how many Sandwings did you eliminate?"

"Six or seven, out of roughly a dozen. We managed to drive off the strike force when your Mudwings showed up along with my Rainwing reinforcements."

Heron burst out into raucous laughter, startling the dragonets and the Rainwings gathered below with her harsh tone.

"I was under the impression that the dragonets at least some idea of how to wage war. Seems like things are worse than even my lowest expectations. For your information, Seawing, a 'strike force' is more like thirty to forty dragons. A dozen? Pfft. That was likely a scouting party, no more. And you suffered, what, _twenty_ casualties driving them off?" A ring of smoke rose from her nostrils as they flared in frustration.

"That's enough, Heron. You've made your point clear," said Caiman. He looked at each of the dragonets gathered before him, his gaze sad but resolute.

"I'm going to tell it straight to you: your army is in bad shape. If a dozen Sandwings managed to give you this much trouble, than you have long way to go before you'll be ready to face the brunt of Blister's strength." His gaze settled on Tsunami, regret flitting through his eyes.

"I have no doubt that your hearts are in the right place. Moorhen was impressed with you, Sunny," he said, nodding respectfully to her. "As am I, now that I've seen what the odds are like. But it will take much more than one Seawing to win this war, however talented she may be."

"So…" Clay began, "you'll help us, then?"

Heron opened her mouth, but Caiman shot her another look. She narrowed her eyes and slowly closed her mouth.

"It's clear you—we—will need the help. I will send a messenger back to the palace requesting a battalion of troops. We'll need at least that many to ensure the rainforest's immediate safety. In the meantime, I'll have our flight patrol the forest, makes sure none of Blister's scouts are still lurking around."

"What about us, sir?" said Riptide.

"You stay put," Heron interjected before Caiman could respond. "We have this under control now, dragonets."

"Do you, now?" said Glory, her voice laced with contempt at Heron's brusque attitude.

"I know you want to fight Blister. And rightly so, considering what she's done to all of you. We all heard about what happened at the peace meeting. Your anger is understandable, but…" Caiman looked away, toward the west. Clay followed his gaze toward the distant peaks of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains.

"Blister is a cunning foe. Her troops are strong, well-trained, and resilient. The Queen of Poison leads her tribe with lies and deceit. Even under better circumstances, this would be a tough war to win. With troops like yours…it'd be nearly impossible."

He turned back to them and said the one thing they didn't want him to say.

"I think it'd be best if you stayed out of this war."

* * *

 **A/N:** I don't know why, but I had a lot more trouble writing this chapter. After the first part with Blister, I just...ran out of steam? :( Took me more than a month to work past the writer's block.

Speaking of which, this chapter marks the first time we see two different perspectives within one chapter. When I first began writing this story I thought one viewpoint character per chapter would be sufficient. However, I recently decided to sit down and fully flesh out my plans for this story, and discovered that I have so many subplots I want to explore that if I did one character per chapter, this story would likely take an eternity and forever to write. So I've decided to see if I can condense two or more characters into one chapter, effectively saving me time and effort in the long run while making the story less drawn out. What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Let me know in a review.

I've also introduced a fair number of OC's in this chapter. I don't intend this story to be OC-centric; nevertheless I've found it necessary to include some new names, mostly for the sake of convenience. Scarab and Sahara won't be making waves much, though Caiman and Heron might appear a bit more often.

Summer is ending soon. Here's hoping I can update more frequently? :/

~SpicyDog99


	12. Moving Mountains

Moving Mountains

The mountain was noisy.

After years of solitude, Stonemover had gotten used to silence. The steady drip of water, the occasional rumble as rocks shifted, a light draft of air whistling past—they were the sounds of his home, the auditory companions that his cave housed. Only echoes of the outside reached his ears, reverberating along the mountain walls to his cave. The howl of a wolf, the trill of a bird, the scuffle of paws on loose stones…

The black dragon forgot, sometimes, that the outside even existed. Forgot that there existed a vast world beyond the confines of his cave, filled with flora and fauna, rich with sights and scents—a world home to his race, dragonkind. He would have forgotten that too if Sunny hadn't stumbled upon his cave, claiming to be his daughter with a dragon from his past.

His past. It felt so distant, so far removed from him, that he wondered if it hadn't happened to another dragon in a past life, a past reincarnation. Stonemover grimaced. It might as well have, for all the good it did him now.

He'd been awoken several nights ago by obnoxious scraping coming from inside the mountain. At first he thought he was hallucinating—perhaps he was finally losing his mind after being alone for so long. But the sounds steadily increased in volume, materializing into a multitude of heavy clawsteps. _Dragons,_ he thought, his guess confirmed a moment later by hushed voices. _What do they want?_

They'd stumbled straight into his cave—two dozen Sandwings, all of them dirty, skinny, and mangled with wounds. They'd stared at him, first with shock, then confusion, and finally suspicion. One of them demanded he identify himself.

"Stonemover," he said apathetically. His chest was aching again. He really didn't feel like speaking.

"Stonemover?" said the Sandwing interrogating him. " _The_ Stonemover? Moons. So you're the one Thorn's been hounding for six years."

"Thorn? You know her?" More dragons from his past? Was it all finally going to catch up to him now, on his deathbed? Stonemover stifled a groan. _It was bound to happen, I suppose._

"We work _for_ her. My name's Armadillo. We're the Outclaws."

Having deemed Stonemover a non-threat, the Outclaws proceeded to settle into Jade Mountain and fill him in on what he'd missed since Sunny departed weeks ago. Apparently, that little dragonet had stayed true to her word—she'd contacted Burn, Blister, and Blaze, and arranged them all to meet at the Sandwing palace to discuss peace terms and formally end the war. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Burn and Blaze were killed; Blister was now the Sandwing queen. Stonemover valiantly resisted the urge to sigh. Hadn't he told Sunny this would happen?

But that wasn't all. Blister wasn't satisfied with just ruling her kingdom. Already she'd begun to invade other tribes and spread her power. The Icewings had fallen not a week ago to an internal uprising—now Blister was turning to the Rainforest Kingdom, where Sunny and her friends were seeking refuge.

 _She's in danger,_ he thought. _My daughter. Sunny._ He knew he ought to feel something about it. Worry, anger, protectiveness. Some paternal instinct to protect his offspring. But, truth be told, he didn't care. He didn't care about much these days.

As part of her campaign, Blister had also driven Thorn and her Outclaws from the Scorpion's Den, and had placed exorbitant bounties on all of their heads. Those that had survived the attack regrouped and fled east, running from the patrols that dogged them constantly. Unable to outrun Blister's troops, the Outclaws had no choice but to hide within Jade Mountain, using its narrow tunnels and limited entrances to ward off attack. It was working so far—Blister's troops were stuck outside, unable to break in without facing a wall of fire and teeth.

They'd left him alone after that, saying they needed to figure out their next move. Stonemover had asked if Thorn was with them, to which they answered no.

"She and Qibli got separated from the rest of us. She could be anywhere in Pyrrhia right now—or dead." Armadillo shook his head. "Without her here…I doubt we'll last for long."

That had been three nights ago. Now the tunnels were filled with the noise of claws scraping and wings flapping, voices shouting and cheering. Stonemover lifted his head an inch. _What could they possibly be cheering about?_

Pawsteps, to his right. He slowly turned his head to look at the little russet fox that came trotting in from another tunnel. A freshly killed hare hung from its jaws.

"Hello Dinner," he greeted. The fox's ears swiveled. It turned its head toward the sounds coming from within the mountain.

"Guests," Stonemover explained with a slight smile. He knew the fox couldn't understand—all the enchantment did was make the fox bring him a kill every few days. Still, the little critter was the closest thing to a friend he had these days. "They won't bite."

He opened his maw and allowed the fox to deposit its catch into his mouth. He chewed slowly, his jaws barely moving as he worked the food down his throat. He barely tasted the meat. It was the same bland texture, like everything else the fox caught for him.

Stonemover grimaced. It was still better than the filth they had on the island—anything was better than that carrion. So he thanked Dinner and watched as the fox quietly padded out of his cave, leaving him to his solitude again.

"You call the fox Dinner?"

He would have jumped out of his scales if they didn't weigh him down like boulders. As it was, all he could do was ponderously turn his head to the left and search for the source of the familiar voice.

A flash of fire caught on a torch. The torch lit the dark interior of his cave, casting light on a dragon he hadn't seen in six years.

"Great moons…"

There were differences: a multitude of new scars and wounds; sand and grit etched into her scales; the tip of one horn broken off in a jagged cut. But there remained a fire in the Sandwing's eyes. A drive, an intense passion that first attracted him to her so many years ago. The dragon stepped forward, her claws clacking on the hard stone of the floor. Though her scales were dirty, and her muscles quivered with exhaustion, Thorn's beauty hadn't lessened a bit in the years since Stonemover had seen her. The moonstone pendant he'd given her still hung around her neck.

"It's been a while, hasn't it…Stonemover?"

Hearing her speak his name snapped him out of his reverie. He blinked slowly, pondering what to say to a dragon that he'd thought had given up on him long ago.

"Thorn, how…"

"How'd we get here?" She tilted her head, a wry look on her face. "Luck, determination, and a whole lot of hard flying. A few days ago Qibli and I got a tip that some Outclaws were hiding out here. Well, one freak sandstorm and several evaded patrols later, we've finally gotten here and reunited with the rest of the gang."

"And the troops outside?"

"It took some time, but we managed to sneak past when the guards weren't looking. Now that I have some of my gang to work with, I can start figuring out how to get us out of here, and where we'll go now that Blister has our trail."

Impressive. Stonemover couldn't help but smile a bit—it was just like Thorn to do something as dauntless as this without a second thought. To put life and wing in danger for those she loved, to be so utterly loyal to her Outclaws…Once upon a time Stonemover had known such loyalty, had shown such loyalty to his tribe. That loyalty was long gone now, replaced with guilt, regret, and emptiness.

"So…" He began, unsure of what to say.

"Let me start," she said, a dangerous note to her voice, "by asking a question." She stepped forward and planted the torch in front of Stonemover, who pulled back slightly at the bright light.

"Where have you BEEN, Stonemover?"

He blinked blearily. "Here?"

A look of confusion passed over Thorn before her eyes wandered the length of his body, taking in the greying, stone-like scales of his lower body. He heard her inhale sharply.

"What…happened to you?"

He sighed. "My animus curse. I assume Sunny told you about it?"

She didn't reply, instead reaching out to touch his hard scales. He yearned for her touch, to feel the warmth of her scales close to his, yet he could feel nothing through his deadened scales. How he loathed the animus curse right now.

"I turned the magic on itself. Instead of claiming my soul, it claims my body." He shifted, letting loose a groan as his bones creaked in protest.

"Does it hurt?" Thorn's voice had dropped to a whisper. Indignation warred with worry in her eyes.

"Not anymore. I can't feel or move anything below my chest." He sighed again, and Thorn looked askance at him.

"Our last fight…I shouldn't have, Thorn. The things I said, they were beneath me."

Thorn looked away, before saying, "Sunny said it was your animus curse, making you cold and harsh."

"It may have been, but that doesn't excuse the things I did. I'm sorry," he said. "I've regretted that fight every day for the last six years."

"Save me your apologies," she said. He heard iron in her voice, and saw open wounds in her eyes. "Why did you leave after that? Where did you go?"

Stonemover ground his teeth. He hadn't prepared a confession, yet one tugged at his throat anyway. Six years was a long time to dwell in guilt and regret—it may have been selfish, but all Stonemover wanted was to remove this final weight from his wings, to make amends to the female he'd once loved so much.

"I couldn't take it anymore, Thorn. Building the animus tunnels, they took so much out of me. You don't know what it's like, feeling that…heartlessness…come over you. You forget who you are, who you love. What you stand for, what your purpose is. You're…nameless. Not a dragon, not even a living creature. Just an angry…thing…that wants to take it out on everything else. That's the only way I can put it." He breathed out slowly. It was more exhausting than he thought it would be.

"And when I could remember who I was, what I was doing…I started questioning things, questioning if all of this was worth it. Battlewinner claimed that what I did was for the good of the tribe. She said, 'Pyrrhia belongs to those strong enough to win it for themselves. What you're doing brings glory to the tribe. It will redeem us, after the fall of our first city.' I once lived by those words, breathed them like every other Nightwing. But after creating those tunnels—" His voice failed him, and he lapsed into silence.

The anger in Thorn had shifted to something vague. Stonemover couldn't tell what. Pity? Disappointment? Disgust?

"Morrowseer said something to that effect," she replied after a pause, "when I went to look for you after we fought. He said you ran. That it was my fault, that I 'corrupted' you and made you disloyal." She scoffed.

"I was disloyal, Thorn." Stonemover reached out and gripped her claw, his black scales covering her tan ones. "Disloyal to my tribe, to my queen…to you. I wanted to confront Morrowseer and demand answers, but he chased me away. I flew, flew east to the mountains, and settled in this one. Jade Mountain."

"And you've been here ever since?"

He nodded gently. "I only left once, to send the final message to you. When you didn't reply, I…" He turned away, unable to look his former love in the eye. He screwed his eyes shut, the old doubts returning.

 _I thought you left. I thought you didn't want me anymore. I thought I wasn't worthy._

The light shifted away, as did Thorn. Stonemover released his hold on her, and clutched empty air. He lowered his head, ashamed.

"Stone…"

He opened his eyes. The fire in Thorn's eyes had dimmed to a simmering glow.

"You've done many things you regret, and many more I can't forgive. You've changed into a cold, distant dragon who doesn't care about the world outside his cave, about the dragons he once called family. So you lie in here. You hide. And you let the world suffer in war and bloodshed." Thorn hesitated, breathing in, then out. She set her eyes on his, black staring into black.

"But I remember what you used to be, Stonemover. I remember the young Nightwing, fresh from the island, coming to the desert to help his tribe using his extraordinary powers. I remember the timid, soft-spoken dragon with the shy grin and silly riddles. I remember our time together, the love and loyalty you showed me, _taught_ me to give to others. If it weren't for you, Stonemover, I have no doubt I would have turned into yet another thug, another criminal in the Scorpion's Den, whose sole purpose in life was to fight and steal over scraps in a rundown, decaying city." She pressed a claw to her face. Stonemover saw a momentary glint of unshed tears.

"I remember who you used to be, Stonemover. Do you?"

He did remember. It had been a lifetime ago, back in an age when he worried less, laughed more, and didn't have to think about losing his soul or his body to the cruel threads of the animus magic. Some nights he dreamt of that time, of that other self he thought was lost, permanently, to the consequences of his innate power.

And yet…now, before his long lost mate, he felt that other version of himself returning. The part that would do anything for Thorn, that would follow her to the ends of Pyrrhia in return for her affections. It wasn't much, just a sliver of his past identity. But for the first time since his curse had grounded him here, Stonemover felt…hope? No, not hope. Something else.

"Your animus curse," said Thorn, "will it kill you?"

He saw no point in hiding the truth. "It is. Slowly, day by day I feel weaker. I feel the curse crawling up my body. Soon—I don't know, maybe a year—it will consume me."

Thorn set her torch on the floor of the cave. She reached out and traced her claws along Stonemover's snout, up his cheek and his frill, to the edges of his horn. He sat, motionless, under her therapeutic touch.

"Then is this going to be your legacy, Stone? A couple of animus tunnels, built for a queen unworthy of your powers? A daughter who never knew you, a mate who thought she'd lost you forever?"

"Thorn—"

"You could have been so much _more,_ Stonemover. You could have helped stop the war, told everyone that Morrowseer's prophecy was false. You could have led your tribe to the mainland, found a new home away from that volcanic island. You could have had a real family, a beautiful mate and a daughter. You could have had it all—but here you lie, in this cave in a forgotten corner of Pyrrhia, wallowing in your regrets and self-pity, drowning yourself in pessimism." She sniffed, and Stonemover was startled to see a single tear trickling down her face. In all the time he'd known her, not _once_ had he seen her cry.

"Camel spit," she said. "I should be angry at you, not…this…"

Stonemover now knew the feeling in his chest. Not hope. Not optimism.

Purpose. Drive.

He lifted his head, reached a claw out to brush off the tear.

"I remember who I used to be," said Stonemover. "And I know I haven't been the mate you deserve, and the father Sunny needs." He was about to sigh again, but clamped down on it, instead staring resolutely at Thorn.

"There's not much I can do now to make up for my past actions. You and Sunny have moved on with your lives, and I've been left behind. The only thing I can say is I'm sorry, and I'll do anything within my power to help you now."

She grimaced. "That's it? An apology?"

"An apology, and the remaining power of an animus Nightwing."

Her brows furrowed. "Stone, what are you saying?"

His gaze lifted to the tunnel Thorn had come from. "How many of Blister's troops are camped outside the mountain?"

She ground her teeth for a second, before replying, "Two flights, from the bare glimpses we've gotten. More are flying in every day." She chuckled. "I should be glad, really. Every soldier Blister sends here is one more that isn't fighting in the rainforest against Sunny and her friends."

Stonemover nodded. "And how many Outclaws do you have left?"

"About twenty who can fight. We have a couple who were hurt in the attack on the Den, and their wounds have gotten infected. I'm not sure how much longer they can last without a healer…"

"Then you and your Outclaws need to get out of here soon, before more of Blister's troops show up."

"And how should I do that? They have a tight perimeter out there—going out won't be as easy as coming in."

For the first time in years, a broad grin lit Stonemover's face.

"I have an idea."

The torchlight dimmed and guttered as he told her his plan. By the time he was finished speaking the torch had gone out. They sat in silence, Sandwing and Nightwing, former lovers reunited under trying circumstances.

"Stone," said Thorn, "are you sure about this?"

He couldn't read her expression in the dark. Nevertheless he said, "I am, Thorn. I don't have much left to live for. Pyrrhia has moved on to a new war. You and Sunny have new roles to play in the upcoming struggle. I want to at least make sure you get the chance to carve the destiny I never did."

"What do I tell Sunny?"

In the darkness he could easily imagine her: her golden scales, her small form, her barbless tail. Those grey-green eyes, so strange, and yet oddly beautiful. And so much like her mother, full of life and warmth, willing to go out and make her destiny as she thought fit. Stonemover realized now that he didn't care his only daughter was a stunted hybrid. She was beautiful, in way unique to her, that no other dragon in Pyrrhia could match. He wondered, someday, whether a lucky male would get to call Sunny his mate.

"Tell her…tell her that I wanted to help her fight Blister, to make up for not helping her bring peace to Pyrrhia. Tell her that I'll be watching from the night sky, where Nightwing souls fly for eternity—guiding her, and protecting her. Tell her…that she'll never have to fly alone."

Though he couldn't see her face, Stonemover could almost imagine Thorn smiling.

"I'll tell her, Stone."

He lay his head down, relieved and tired. "Thank you, Thorn. Stay with me, tonight?"

She stayed, and Stonemover slept peacefully, his nightmares a past reality.

* * *

Dawn came too soon. Stonemover awoke to Thorn stretching cat-like, wings splayed and barbed tail curled. He simply lifted his head and shook it roughly.

"I guess this is a final goodbye," he said.

Thorn nodded. "I'll round up my Outclaws and head to the other side of the mountain. We'll fly only when we feel your signal."

No point mincing words. This day was bound to come, and though Stonemover would miss her, he knew he would take this over dying, alone and pathetic, in his cave any day.

"Thorn—stay safe, and good luck."

She bowed her head, eyes filled with sorrow and strength. Gingerly she pressed her snout to his neck, nuzzling him in a rare moment of affection.

"Farewell, Stonemover." With that she turned and headed up the tunnel she came in last night, and never looked back.

Alone, in his cave, Stonemover closed his eyes, and reached down deep into himself. There, at his core, where his inner fire met his beating heart, lay a well of power bestowed on him by his ancestors. Carefully he reached into that well, and pulled out the animus magic that made him who he was. Stonemover.

He chuckled momentarily. He always thought his parents had given him a strange name. Stonemover? All he'd done was create some tunnels, that was it. Hardly a task that involved moving stones.

 _Well,_ he thought, _it's time to change that._

The first thing he did was reach out beyond the mountain, searching for a small magical signature in the wilderness around the mountain. Dinner couldn't have gone far, and while the reach of his magic was limited outside the confines of the mountain, it wouldn't take much to dispel the enchantment he'd placed on the little red fox. When he finally found the signature he swiftly undid the enchantment, and Dinner faded from his conscious, blending back into the vast wilds.

"Thank you, friend," he said to empty air, "for your years of loyal service."

Then, with Sunny and Thorn on his mind, he reached out and shook the mountain.

Rocks groaned, pebbles skittered across the ground. The mountains shifting moans echoed his own—Stonemover glanced down and saw the hard, black scales creep further up his body, now to his ribs. Gritting his teeth in pain, he slowly lifted himself to a sitting position. He'd had enough of lying around despondently; he wanted to die with some dignity.

Voices echoed outside, startled at the mountain's sudden shaking. _C'mon,_ thought Stonemover, _take the bait._

An authoritative voice sounded above the others. He couldn't hear what it said, but it was followed by swift wingbeats nearing the mountain, judging by the way the sound bounced down the tunnel.

"Again," he whispered to himself. He reached out with his magic, pain erupting within him once more. With a cry of pain he shook the mountain again, causing a cloud of dust to blanket him. He coughed, voice ragged. It was getting hard to breathe.

"Captain, it's coming from in here!" The voice echoed down the tunnel to the outside, the one Dinner took.

"Where are the Outclaws?" said another voice. "Have they fled?"

Stonemover spotted some loose stones at a corner of the cave. With a flick of his magic he flung the stones across the ground, the loud clattering echoing all the way to the outside.

"They're running!" said the second voice. "After them, before they escape!"

"But Captain, the mountain—"

"Forget the mountain, if Thorn and the Outclaws escape again Blister will have our hides! Ram flight, head in first. Sidewinder flight, head to the other entrances and make sure they haven't escaped."

 _Fly, Thorn. Fly to Sunny's side,_ thought Stonemover as he shook the mountain once more. Around him, the walls began to crack, the ceiling now raining dust and pebbles. The hard scales now covered his chest, almost reaching his arms. He was getting light-headed; he was rapidly reaching the limits of his magic.

"Do you see any Outclaws?"

"None, they're gone!"

"Snake-spawn! Where could they have gone?"

"Captain, there's a dragon here!"

Within moments Sandwings filled his cave, pouring in from the different entrances. Stonemover turned to regard them, showing them his petrified body. He wouldn't be scared, not of them, not anyone else. He'd run from fear long enough.

"What is this?" said a dragon, pushing through the throng of soldiers to the front. "Identify yourself, Nightwing. What are you doing with the Outclaws?"

"I'm…protecting them." Stonemover struggled to speak. The hard scales crept up his arms now.

"You're with the Outclaws?" The Captain marched up to Stonemover, who refused to shy away.

"Tell me where Thorn and her lackeys are, or you will taste Sandwing poison," he said, his barb perched menacingly above Stonemover's throat.

He gazed into the Captain's black eyes and spoke.

"They've gone to fight for Pyrrhia's freedom."

Before Blister's troops could react, he reached down to the last dregs of his animus magic. He brought it up, a flood rising, ready to break. The walls of the cave shook.

"Captain? What's going on—"

The magic shot forth, out into the rocks, into every stone and slab that made up Jade Mountain.

"Captain! We need to mo—"

Stonemover threw his head back and, with cry of pain and triumph, brought down the mountain.

As the roof trembled and the walls began to buckle, Stonemover closed his eyes, his body numbing over as it spent its last energy, gave its last will. The stony scales crept up his body, swallowing his arms, reaching up his neck to his head. The world faded, the shouts and screams of Blister's troops nothing but a faint buzz. Before his eyes, he saw only Sunny and Thorn, mother and daughter, standing proudly side by side to face the coming darkness.

His tribe had named him Stonemover. But for Sunny and Thorn, he would move mountains to ensure their future.

The scales raced up his snout. As darkness filled his vision, Stonemover saw the Night Sky before him, filled with the twinkling souls of all Nightwings since the beginning of time.

He reached up, and its ebony wings enfolded him.

* * *

"Look!" said Qibli.

Thorn didn't need to look. She could hear it happening behind her. Though she didn't want to, she pulled up midflight and turned to see what her Outclaws saw.

Before her, Jade Mountain, the tallest mountain in Pyrrhia, groaned its final death throes. Then, with a cataclysmic crack and earth-shattering thunder, the mountain collapsed. The snow-streaked peak fell, enveloped in a mushroom cloud of dust that blossomed into the sky. The air, the earth, everything shook with the massive cave-in. For minutes Thorn heard nothing, felt nothing but terrifying shockwaves. When at last the air was still, she could see nothing but a giant wall of dust billowing high into the air.

"Jade Mountain," said Smolder, hovering beside her. "What happened?"

Thorn looked on, a sudden sorrow stealing her voice away. She'd known what he was going to do, yet even so it hurt. To know that Stonemover had done this, sacrificed himself so that she and her Outclaws could escape…

"Thorn?" said Qibli, flying up to her. "You OK?"

She closed her eyes, and then opened them, the fire of leadership returning to her.

"Let's go. There's nothing left for us here."

He blinked, then gave her an affirmative nod.

"You da boss, Thorn."

As they turned to fly east, Smolder caught her eye. He wore a puzzled expression laced with hints of concern. The unspoken question weighed the air between them—Thorn hadn't told any of the others except Armadillo about what Stonemover had planned.

She turned away from his gaze. _Later_ , came the unspoken answer.

As Thorn flew into the rising sun, she felt some of the sorrow ebb away, replaced with a grim determination. Her former mate had died so that she and Sunny could keep fighting Blister, could someday hope of defeating the Sandwing tyrant.

 _Blister will pay. She will pay, for every last life she's taken._

Around her neck, the moonstone pendant swayed.

* * *

 **A/N:** And done! I wrote this chapter in one long night of writing. Whew, what an accomplishment.

I was debating whether to write this chapter from Stonemover or Thorn's perspective. Eventually I went with Stonemover, mostly cause I thought it would be an interesting window into a character that gets relatively little screen time. I was worried at first that his constant sighing and moaning would make for a bland character, but I felt that his interaction with Thorn in particular could help bring out some of the old dragon that Thorn had fallen in love with. What do you guys think? Did you like this interpretation of Sunny's dad?

I'd like to mention that the reference to being "nameless" that Stonemover makes was inspired by a book series I'm reading. It's called the Summer King Chronicles, and it's an anthropomorphic animal story like Wings of Fire that stars griffins. In the story there's a mechanic where an intelligent animal, in a bout of extreme panic, can temporarily lose all memory of its identity and its loved ones. The characters in the story called this being Nameless, as such animals no longer respond to their name until they calm down. I thought it'd be cool to interpret the animus curse in a way similar to this - perhaps the reason animus dragons go insane is because they lose all memory of themselves in their magic. It's not exactly the same, but I thought it would be a nice tie-in anyway. (By the way, you should _totally_ read the Summer King Chronicles. If you loved Wings of Fire, or Warriors, or Guardians of Ga'Hoole, then you will absolutely love it. Take my word for it, it's amazing. :D)

Well, it's getting late again. School's started up again, though thankfully I don't have any early classes tomorrow. I seem to have made it a tradition to upload in the middle of the night. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose - I just started writing tonight, got really into the chapter, and eventually decided screw it, I want to finish this tonight, edit it, and upload it. I hope your having a fantastic day or night, wherever you are, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~SpicyDog99


	13. Flee

**A/N:** Slight spoilers for Winglet #2, _Assassin._ It's really just a minor detail, though, nothing too important.

* * *

Flee

The forest changed before Glory's eyes.

Caiman and Heron wasted no time. Once Tsunami and the rest of the wounded Rainwings were tended to, they sent several sib groups of Mudwings out to patrol the perimeter and ensure the Sandwings didn't return. The rest they tasked with setting up a forward base in the Rainwing village—mud huts for the soldiers, another healer's hut to accommodate more of the wounded, and storage areas for weapons and armor. Heron personally surveyed the forest around the village and proclaimed it a terrible defensive position. When Glory asked why, Heron shook her head in exasperation.

"The trees are blocking all lines of sight in and out of your village. You can't see a thing through all this vegetation. No. We need to at least clear some of the higher branches, and place some outposts around so Blister's goons don't sneak up on us again."

Glory's eyes narrowed as a streak of orange rippled down her back. "The trees are hiding our village. My Rainwing sentries can camouflage easily in the forest. Cutting down the trees will only make things worse."

"How so? Blister already knows where your village is—her scouting party did its job effectively enough, while your 'sentries' slept on the job. We need to have eyes on the forest, or we will be ambushed. Hiding in our huts and waiting for Blister to come to us is _not_ going to help." In front of them, a few Mudwings were busy stripping the upper branches of tree to make way for one of Heron's outposts. They looked ragged, leaves and bark stuck in their scales, their muscles shaking after a half a day spent clinging to a tree. They looked about as happy as Glory felt.

"I don't believe this," said Glory, her façade of courtesy falling away in the face of Heron's attitude.

Heron snorted. "Believe it. Unless you want your village overrun by Sandwings, I suggest you leave me to my work. Go pester my brother if you have nothing else to do."

They immediately set up training sessions, organized regular patrols, and turned the previously peaceful Rainwing village into an impromptu military camp. The noises of the rainforest were replaced with the sounds of metal banging on metal, with the sounds of Mudwings growling and roaring as they sparred. Wings filled the sky from dawn to dusk as patrols and hunting parties flew in and out, bringing in reports and fresh kills of wild chicken and tapir. (Glory "kindly" reminded the Mudwings that sloths were off-limits.) Despite the increased security, Glory couldn't help but feel uneasy. Perhaps it was stony faces of the Mudwing soldiers, all serious as they went about their business, conversing only within their sib groups and with their superiors. Maybe it was the prospect that their war with Blister had finally taken on a tangible form—a form that looked less and less enticing as time wore on. Or maybe it was because Heron was a jerk, both to her and everyone else. Glory hadn't expected warm smiles, but certainly this much of a cold shoulder was unnecessary.

Whatever the reason for her unease, she wasn't the only one feeling less than stellar.

Tsunami woke up several hours after passing out, and though she was still weak from the poison, she was adamant about being let out to see her troops. Glory and the others managed to convince her to rest for a bit, but the poor Seawing was so restless from being cooped up that Glory was tempted to release her anyway. Regardless, she recovered quickly and was soon doing what she could to help out around the village. As for Caiman and Heron, Tsunami didn't seem too pleased either, though it was mostly the fact that they replaced her as general of the Rainwing troops.

Starflight looked visibly nervous around all the commotion—Glory guessed he was having a hard time navigating with all the noise and dragons hurtling around, even with Fatespeaker helping him. He'd mentioned their stores of intel to Caiman, and after bringing him the reports, the royal Mudwing applauded Starflight, but insisted he let the Mudwings handle it, as it would expedite things in their system. Outwardly Starflight seemed OK with it, though Glory suspected he was insulted by Caiman's implication that his disability was keeping him from doing his job. These days he spent most of his time in the Nightwing village with Fatespeaker; she could only guess what he was doing there.

Sunny seemed apprehensive at first, though she quickly adjusted to the new pace of life in the rainforest. She said that the Mud Kingdom was largely similar, and that despite the end of the Sandwing War of Succession, the Mudwings seemed to prefer their regimented lifestyle. She was grateful for it now, as they really needed the help. Glory couldn't fault her for that; whatever their disagreements, the Mudwings were still a godsend to the dragonets. For their part Caiman and Heron treated Sunny with the respect appropriate for the unofficial leader of the dragonets, though she still received a number of strange looks from the Mudwings.

The only one of them who didn't seem bothered at all was Clay, who'd been reunited with his siblings after the battle. Reed, Pheasant, Sora, Marsh, and Umber had practically buried him in a tangle of limbs, wings, and tails. Glory couldn't help but smile. It was a rare moment of pure joy amidst the stress of the past few days. This time around Reed and his siblings were determined to teach Clay everything about their tribe and make him a true Mudwing. Though Clay still refused the title of bigwings of his sib troop, he seemed to really enjoy himself around them. The big guy deserved it, after everything he'd gone through after the peace meeting.

Which left only her—Glory, queen of the Rainwings and the Nightwings, being delegated to a backseat role as Caiman and Heron slowly took over the daily operations of the Rainforest Kingdom. She knew she shouldn't feel angry. Caiman and Heron were older and much more experienced in warfare. It was only fair to let them take the helm, especially since the dragonets had actively sought out their help. They were struggling, and the Mudwings were willing to help. She had no right to complain, yet Glory couldn't help but feel they'd hijacked her tribe from her.

The Rainwings didn't seem any more pleased than her, not least because Heron was their new general. Glory thought Tsunami had been strict with her troops—it was _nothing_ compared to Heron. After their first training session had almost turned into a riot, Glory had to sit down with her and Caiman and explain that the Rainwings didn't work well with such a harsh instructor. Heron's response had been toxic.

"Then _how_ am I supposed to train these Rainwings? They're a motley, undisciplined rabble with the backbone of a snail. I need to shape them up if they're going to stand a chance in the fight to come."

Resisting the urge to spit a glob of venom into Heron's scowling face, Glory said, "You're talking to the queen of said rabble, Heron. Show some more respect for the Rainwings or you will see what they are truly capable of."

"Empty threats," Heron spat. "All I've ever seen them do is sleep, chase butterflies, and prattle on about their scale color. What will they do when Blister comes? Hide in bushes and hope she doesn't see them? Use those pathetic little blowguns against spears and barbs?"

"Just ask the Nightwings. They can explain it all to you." Glory's scales roiled an angry shade of red and purple. Why did Heron have to be this difficult? She sincerely hoped Moorhen was nothing like her sister.

"As a matter of fact, I did. I went over to that glorified slum of theirs yesterday to see if they could be of any help. They looked down their noses at me and said something about Nightwings having better things to do than speak to primordial swamp cretins." She puffed a ring of smoke from her nostrils. "I'm stuck between a tribe of spineless chameleons and a stuck-up, pretentious group of dragons who should have been left to rot on their volcanic island. And you wonder why I'm so bitter."

"Heron!" Caiman shouted before Glory could form a reply. "That's quite enough. If you have nothing helpful to add then go check on the troops."

The two Mudwings glared at each other—brother versus sister, royal versus royal. Then, with a low growl Heron turned back to Glory.

"Think what you will of me—all I'm trying to do is turn your dragons into respectable soldiers. This is war, not a game for silly little dragonets. If you can't stomach it, then you shouldn't have picked a fight with Blister in the first place."

She thumped out of the audience treehouse, her thick tail smacking the doorframe loudly as she flared her wings and dove off the platform.

Caiman groaned and muttered something under his breath as he reached a claw up to rub at his snout.

"I'm very sorry for this, Glory. My sister has always been wary of conflict. I suspect this recent turn of events has put her on edge more than usual."

Forcing her scales back to a less abrasive grey color, Glory cocked her head. "How so?" Heron didn't seem wary so much as unrepentantly impatient.

Caiman was silent a moment, as if deciding how best to explain his next words. His uncertain expression practically said, "It's a long story."

"Within our sib group, Heron and I are regarded as the 'runts', you might say. We were the smallest in our brood, the slowest to grow and mature. Moorhen and our other siblings always treated us as fragile things, even well into adulthood. Force of habit, more than anything. Does that make sense?"

She found it difficult to imagine that this giant Mudwing in front of her was ever a "runt". Nevertheless, she understood what he was saying. She was reminded of Umber, Clay's smallest sibling, and of Sunny, who had been the "runt" of their little family for so long.

"Yeah. I can see it."

He nodded, his dark brown eyes blinking slowly.

"When the War of the Sandwing Succession broke out, Heron was eager to prove herself to Moorhen as a capable warrior and leader. She couldn't bear to see her older siblings risk themselves to protect the two of us."

"I thought Mudwing troops fought together," said Glory, cocking an eyebrow.

"For the most part, yes. And Moorhen let us come with her to the front lines. But mostly she just delegated mundane tasks to the two of us—organizing the troops, maintaining our supplies, that sort of thing. Back then, of course, we were still allied with Blister."

"Yeah…I think I remember that." She remembered Webs teaching them that for most of the war the Mudwings had actually been allied with Blister and the Seawings. A diplomatic incident had made the Mudwings change to Burn's side. Glory had paid it little mind—it had just seemed like another tidbit of useless information.

"At the time Moorhen had been pushing into Skywing territory with the assistance of Blister's Sandwings. It was the dead of winter, and our troops were having a tough time in the cold and snowy mountain climate. Heron was still trying to convince Moorhen to let her fight in the battles, but our bigwings kept refusing her.

"Then, we had a particularly catastrophic battle: the Skywings attacked in force and routed our troops. Moorhen was severely wounded, and the healers barely managed to keep her alive." His eyes became distant, his head dipping slightly as he recalled the painful memories. Glory clutched a claw to her chest, a splotch of blue crossing her scales in empathy for the older dragon.

"One of our lieutenants claimed that Blister had abandoned the battlefield when she saw the direction it was going, pulling her Sandwings to safety and leaving us to the Skywing onslaught. That was the last straw for Heron. She was planning on gathering a few Mudwing troops and confronting Blister about her actions. I tried to convince her not to do it, that we couldn't verify the lieutenant's claim, but she refused to see reason. She didn't care about the potential consequences—only that Blister had to pay for betraying Moorhen." Idly he traced a faint scar along his neck. Glory wondered if perhaps Heron had been the one to give it to him.

"I had no choice but to tell my other sibs. We had to physically detain Heron in our camp to keep her from running off. By the time Moorhen recovered, the Skywings had us almost completely hemmed in. We had no choice but to abandon the campaign and retreat back to the Mud Kingdom.

"Ever since then, Heron has harbored a hatred for Blister. It only grew after Tempest's assassination, and Moorhen officially broke our alliance with Blister and switched to Burn. I think Heron still feels that she needs to prove herself to Moorhen and our older sibs. And now, she has the perfect opportunity to do so against a dragon she's held a grudge against for years. I hope it helps to explain her behavior. I won't make excuses for it, but perhaps now you might understand why she's so impatient."

Glory sniffed. "I understand now. But that doesn't make her any easier to work with."

"Just give her a chance, Glory. Heron has been studying the art of war rigorously for years. She knows what she's doing, even if her way of going about it isn't the most amiable."

"Will you at least tell her to go easy on the Rainwings? I agree that my dragons need help, but I just don't see Heron's method getting anywhere."

Caiman nodded. "I'll do my best."

Their meeting concluded, they headed out of the audience treehouse and stood on the platform. The village sprawled around them, the noon sun turning the forest into a steamy sauna. Fortunately the Mudwings didn't seem very fazed by the heat, and they bustled about as always. The Rainwings, on the other hand, struggled against their heat-induced lethargy, stumbling about sleepily and listing in midflight. One of the first things Heron had done was abolish sun time, and while Glory thought it beneficial (Blister had managed to infiltrate the village during sun time, after all), the Rainwings were having a hard time adjusting. Even now she spotted a couple on-duty Rainwings who were hiding in trees, sneaking in a quick nap.

She heard Caiman breathe deep. "There's something…nice…about the rainforest," he said. "We Mudwings have feared it for so long, thinking monsters lived deep among the trees. But really there's nothing remotely dangerous about this place. It's warm, it's sunny, there's plentiful food and water—small wonder the Rainwings love it here."

Glory chuckled despite herself. "To think your tribe lived right next to all of this for so many years, and you never knew what you were missing out on until now."

"Well," he said, smiling slightly, "to be fair, our swamps have a lot more mud than the rainforest."

She rolled her eyes. She still remembered her trip with Clay to the Mud Kingdom weeks ago. The feel of that cold, goopy mud on her scales…She doubted she would ever love it the way a Mudwing did.

Caiman sighed. "It's sad that this peaceful place will be the battleground for Blister's War."

"Blister's War? Is that what you call it?"

"It is. Blister started it, didn't she? Were it not for her greedy nature none of this would be happening right now." He shook his head. "Such a shame. It seems not a single place in Pyrrhia can stay untouched by the conflicts of its dragons."

Glory looked away. Images of the previous war filtered through her mind: the Skywing arena, stained with the blood of prisoners of war; the Mudwing battlefield, strewn with the bodies of soldiers; the Seawing Summer Palace awash in flames, filled with panicking dragons. She closed her eyes and shuddered.

"Glory."

The young Rainwing queen turned to face the brother of the Mudwing queen. His next words were sent a chill down Glory's spine.

"I know the horrors of war as well as you do. I've seen it tear families apart, turn close friends into enemies, and reduce the strongest dragons to husks of their former selves. Please, take my advice. Treasure your time with your tribe, your home, and your friends. Never take any of them for granted. Never assume they are safe from harm."

He turned away, pain in his eyes.

"The war is here now. And it will not hesitate to tear from you everything and everyone you cherish."

* * *

She was awoken by a long, bloodcurdling scream.

"FIRRRRRRRE!"

Her head shot up, her scales white with shock. She looked around, searching for the source of the scream. Next to her on the sleeping platform Deathbringer perked up immediately, alerted by the sudden tensing of her body.

"What is it? An attack?"

She'd finally discovered the source of the scream. Her heart nearly stopped.

"No…it's worse."

To the west of the village, reaching up into the canopy of the rainforest, was a giant wall of fire. Flames jumped from tree to tree, consuming the forest like an enormous, voracious beast. Smoke plumed into the night sky, reflecting the bright yellow glow of the blaze as it swept towards the village. The acrid stench of burning vegetation was matched only by the shrieks of fleeing animals and the approaching, deep-throated roar of the fire. Tropical birds filled the sky, a swarm of them heading east. Around them, monkeys swung through the branches, chittering fearfully.

"Great moons…" breathed Deathbringer. He gripped Glory's shoulder and shook her out of her daze. "We've got to alert the village."

Springing to their claws, Glory and Deathbringer took off from the platform and circled up to get a better view of the situation. The flames stretched in front of them, spanning the entire width of the village. Below them, Mudwings and Rainwings were stirring from their sleep, alerted by the screaming sentries and the stench of burning wood. Glory spotted Heron and Caiman among the throng, desperately trying to organize a firefighting effort. Rainwings milled about aimlessly, many of them in panicked shades of white and sickly green, bawling and wailing as they watched their beloved forest go up in flames. Glory spotted a flash of blue and yellow perched on another platform, and rocketed towards them. They materialized into Sunny, Tsunami, Riptide, and Webs

"What's going on?" said Sunny. "Why is the forest on fire?!"

"We'll worry about that later," said Tsunami. "We need to get everyone evacuated. The fire's moving this way fast!"

"Where are the others?" said Glory, trying hard to keep the waver of panic out of her voice.

"I don't know," said Sunny. "I just remember waking up hearing fire, and then looking up and seeing the whole place on fire."

"We don't have time for this," said Tsunami authoritatively. "C'mon, we need to get the Rainwings to safety." She flared her wings and took off.

"Wait!" Glory took off after her. "We can't just let the fire burn the village."

"Do you see the size of this blaze, Glory? There's no way we can stop it." She swooped around the platforms, shouting at the frightened Rainwings, ordering them to head east immediately. Sunny, Webs, and Riptide soon followed suit.

Glory spared a glance around. The Mudwings weren't making much, if any, progress against the flames. The Rainwings were still a confused mess—some were trying to find friends and loved ones, others were rushing about collecting what few possessions they had, and still more were simply paralyzed with fear.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of tawny yellow.

Veering around midflight for a better look, she saw a wedge formation of Sandwings coming in from the south. Their tan scales were glimmered in the firelight, their black, beady eyes and sharp spear tips glinting in the night. The lead Sandwing opened his mouth and roared a battle cry. Behind him more Sandwings appeared, winging around the southern fringe of the wall.

"What in the—"

"Glory, look!" Deathbringer shouted, pointing in the opposite direction.

Glory spun around, and there, coming from the north, was an identical formation of Icewings, their scales emitting a ghostly aura in the darkness. The lead Icewing breathed a plume of frostbreath, a narwhal tusk gripped in her claws. The formation spread out, and the Icewings pulled in their wings, preparing to dive on the helpless Rainwings and Mudwings below.

They were surrounded.

"We're under attack!" Glory shouted. "Fall back! Blister's forces are here!"

Pandemonium ensued.

The Mudwings, seeing the incoming enemy, immediately aborted their firefighting attempts and took to the air, struggling to gain altitude before Blister's forces slammed into them. Caiman and Heron shouted commands and spread the troops into two groups to deal with both impending attacks. The two sides collided with a heavy _thump_ ; talons screeched against scales, dragons bellowed in anger as they tumbled through the air, their silhouettes backlit against the raging inferno. Frost and flames billowed into the air, alternating flashes of white and orange.

"Tsunami! Sunny! Where are you guys?"

She heard a familiar roar and spotted Tsunami grappling with a Sandwing, narrowly avoiding its barb and getting poisoned again. She spotted Sunny's small form weaving between the fighting bodies, heading toward a group of Mudwings led by a familiar dragon, a speck of red by his side.

"There's Clay and his sibs! And Peril, too," Glory pointed at where the troop of Mudwings tangled with a dozen Sandwings and Icewings. "We have to help them."

"Glory, no, it's too dang—"

"I don't give a sloth's bottom about your danger, Death! I'm NOT letting my friends die like this!"

Without another word she pulled her wings in and stooped, hurtling toward the mass of snarling dragons. Though she had killed before, Glory did not consider herself a fighter. Her only real weapon was her venom, and she was still a lousy shot with it—no way would she risk using it in these close quarters, not with friendly dragons so close.

She didn't care. Her friends were in trouble. Her friends, who had stuck by her and given her a place in this world, who had accepted her as a Rainwing instead of casting her out and labeling her "lazy"—they were in danger. Fighter or not, she wasn't going to let her friends fight alone.

She saw an Icewing about to breathe frost on Clay from behind. Without a second thought she vectored towards the Icewings vulnerable back, spread her claws and slammed into him.

She immediately regretted it.

Gasping in pain, she spun backwards, her face and snout covered with bleeding cuts where the Icewing's frill spikes had slashed her. Righting herself, she flew around the stunned soldier and joined up beside Clay and Peril. A trickle of blood dripped into her eye; she blinked it away.

"Hey," she said—breathless, in pain, and buzzing with adrenaline. "How's it goin'?"

Peril did a double take. "Wait, Glory?"

"The only. Need some help?"

The enraged Icewing swung a serrated claw at them. Clay tackled Glory and knocked her out of its reach.

"What are you doing here?!" he shouted, but was cut off by a loud roar.

"Retreat!" yelled Caiman, already sporting numerous gashes and wounds. "East, away from the fire!"

It was only then that the furious heat came rushing back to Glory. The fire was dangerously close now, only several trees away and approaching quickly. The heat and light made Glory wince. Tears welled up in her eyes as the smoke thickened.

"C'mon, let's go!" she shouted, twirling away from the combat and winging east. She craned her neck around and spotted Peril, Clay, and his sibs following, with Caiman, Heron, and the rest of the Mudwing force bringing up the rear. The Sandwings and Icewings swooped in, hooting and jeering in battle lust. They nipped at the tail end of the retreating group, picking off lone Mudwings who couldn't keep up.

Sunny appeared on her right side. "Thanks for coming to help."

"Your welcome," Glory panted in reply.

"Also, you're crazy."

 _What a surprise,_ she thought.

A shadow swooped in on her left. Deathbringer. "Duck!" he shouted.

Instinctively, Glory folded her wings and dropped, Sunny right beside her. Above her, Deathbringer slammed into a Sandwing with a spear, narrowly saving himself from getting impaled in the process. There was a flash of silver and the Sandwing was spinning away, clutching a mortal wound at his throat.

"You know, Glory, I go to great lengths to keep you safe," said Deathbringer as he swerved back toward them, his silver assassin disks gripped in his claws. "Next time, would you please oblige me and _not_ fly straight into the middle of a battle?"

"Then keep up," was all Glory said in reply, a smirk tugging at her lips. This was almost fun.

Deathbringer grumbled irritably. Then he suddenly blanched.

"They're too slow…They'll never make it in time!"

Ahead of them, Tsunami and the others had finally gotten the Rainwings airborne, but hampered by the darkness the group was making little headway. Between the slow-moving elders and the dragons burdened with flightless dragonets, there was no way they could escape the village before Blister's forces caught up with them.

 _No. No, no no._ Glory's stomach plummeted to the forest floor as her greatest fear became reality before her eyes. Her tribe, helpless, begging for mercy. Blister's troops, plunging in for the kill, effortless cutting down her dragons like falcons on a hunt. An elder, pounced upon by three Sandwings, tumbling into the dark abyss. A young female carrying a wailing hatchling, trying vainly to protect her dragonet as an Icewing shredded her scales with his claws. Mudwings and Rainwings, making a last desperate stand to save their tribe from Blister's war machine. They fought valiantly, with tooth and claw and every last bit of fire and venom—yet even that was not enough to stop Blister's cold, calculated attack.

And she, Queen Glory of the Rainwings, was utterly powerless to stop it all.

Distantly she felt a pair of claws grab her shoulders and haul her forward, away from the fighting. She craned her neck around, unable to tear her eyes away from her dragons, fighting and dying against a superior foe. Two large silhouettes dominated the battle—Caiman, with Heron by his side, sweeping through Blister's ranks, swiping away Sandwings and Icewings, weathering the storm of barbs and frost. Heron listed heavily to the right, her right wing torn and tattered. Half a dozen spears protruded from Caiman's body, yet still he fought on, doing everything within his power to stall Blister's advance and buy them the time they needed to escape.

"No," she said, barely a whisper, voice cracked in pain. "Don't…Caiman…"

The Mudwing defense collapsed. Overwhelmed, they folded under the aggressive attacks of the enemy troops. Cut off from her brother by the rush of soldiers, Heron detached from the fighting and sped toward Glory, screaming for her to run. Behind her, Caiman's silhouette vanished as Blister's forces overtook him. His roars echoed, shaking the air.

Then, abruptly, he went silent.

"Caiman…"

Something broke inside her that night, shattered into a million pieces. As Glory, Deathbringer, and the rest of the dragonets fled into the night with the surviving Rainwings and Mudwings trailing behind them, a crack wormed its way through her thorny shell. A crack that grew as the night went on, splintered and branched as they hid within the distant trees and listened as Blister's troops pillaged their home. A crack that, as the dawn light crept into the sky, consumed the last part of the dragon that had once been Glory, Queen of the Rainwings.

She was not Glory. She was no queen.

She was just another silly dragonet playing war.

* * *

 _So,_ Blister mused as she gazed upon the destruction, _I've routed the dragonets and sent them running. Their poor excuse for an army is no more. Their village has been burnt to the ground, and their rainforest is no more._

 _All things considered, I'd call that a success._

She soared on an air current, using the updraft to effortlessly keep herself afloat. Beneath her, the burnt skeletons of trees reached up toward the red glow of early dawn, demons grasping for a bleeding sky. A fitting image, she thought, for the night's events.

The Rainwing village was completely gone. All of the platforms, hammocks, and quaint little treehouses had gone up like tinder. The Mudwings' miniature camp on the forest floor had been torn down, the surviving structures looted of all useful materials before being destroyed. The fire had spread through the night, consuming vast swaths of the rainforest, reducing the warm, lush ecosystem to an ash-ridden wasteland. With the exception of her Sandwings and Icewings, who were scanning the area from the air for any signs of life or the dragonets' presence, the forest was devoid of life. The howling monkeys, the shrieking birds, the nonstop buzzing of gnats and flies—all were gone, replaced with peaceful silence. Only the wind blew, stirring the ash into small eddies, whispering quietly to Blister.

 _Victory. Victory._

"Your Highness?" said young voice from behind.

An Icewing dragonet flew up beside Blister. Her previously bloodstained scales had now been washed clean, and her white scales shone brightly under the sun. Her icy blue eyes were filled with arrogance, and more than a hint of contempt. Her narwhal spear was still gripped in her claws.

"Queen Icicle," said Blister, who forced herself to sound respectful. "Glad to see you unharmed. You and your Icewings fought well."

Icicle laughed, her voice tinkling in the air. Blister avoided rolling her eyes.

"Those Rainwings thought they were so tough. They didn't stand a chance against my elite Frostguard, that's for sure. And the Mudwings! What were they thinking trying to make a stand like that?" She shook her head, grinning. "They were fodder for my troops."

"Hmmm," was Blister's only response.

"O-Of course, your Sandwings definitely did their part, Your Highness," Icicle hastily added. "They fought just as well, sweeping in from the south in a flanking maneuver. An anvil for my hammer—a brilliant tactical decision, I must say. With our combined strength, there is no one in Pyrrhia that can stand in our way."

"Indeed." She barely concealed the boredom in her voice. "Now, was there something you needed?"

The young Icewing started, as if just remembering why she'd come searching for Blister in the first place.

"Our troops have discovered a hidden Nightwing village a short distance from here. My mother and father wish to speak with you about it, Your Highness. They are waiting at the village. Shall I lead you there?"

Nightwings? Blister couldn't help the devilish grin that spread across her snout. This was going to be fun.

"Why not? I follow you."

They turned southeast toward a part of the rainforest left relatively untouched by the fire. As they flew, they passed over the remains of the battlefield, the bodies of the fallen almost burned beyond recognition. Blister was pleased to see relatively few Sandwings and Icewings among the dead—most of them were Mudwings and Rainwings.

 _One more kingdom falls under my wing,_ she thought. _Once I clear away the dead trees, this will be a fitting land for the Sandwings to occupy._

Her gaze roved over the Claws of the Clouds Mountains to the north, towards the Mud Kingdom in the east, and south to the coast of Pyrrhia.

Hers.

All hers.

She returned her gaze to her front, watching Icicle's spiked tail bob in flight.

 _You said I could never be queen. That no one would bow to a leader like me._

 _Well, mother, I'm going to prove you wrong._

The Kingdom of Sand, the Ice Kingdom, the Rainforest Kingdom…none of it was enough.

She would see ALL of Pyrrhia in the grasp of her claws.

"The Sandwing Empire," she whispered, savoring the tantalizing words on her tongue. "How great it will be."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well. That took a turn for the worse...

I actually had some trouble thinking of ways Blister could successfully invade the rainforest, even with so much help on her side. The Rainwings actually have quite a lot of advantages - camouflage, tranquilizer darts, flesh-eating venom, you name it. Then it hit me - all of these advantages rely on the Rainwings hiding within the trees and using them for cover. Once forced out into the open most of these advantages are negated (except for venom spitting, but even that has its limits). So it seemed the best way for Blister to invade was by simultaneously destroying the rainforest, hence the giant wall of fire. I had some vague foreshadowing of this back in chapter 11, with Blister imagining the smell of smoke in the air. I think this, along with the two-prong flanking attack with the help of Icicle's Icewings, is a suitably cunning way for Blister to root out the dragonets and secure herself a first major victory in the war.

Also, poor Caiman. He should have taken the advice he gave to Glory earlier in the chapter. I was planning on making Caiman and Heron major characters in this story, but now I'm not so sure. Heron, I feel, will continue to be a presence at least for the immediate future.

So, there you have it. The first big battle of Blister's War, and it's a crushing defeat for our dragonets. How will they recover from a blow like this? Can they recover at all? And will anyone be able to stop Blister's war machine?

As always thanks for reading and reviewing. You guys are the best. :) See you in the next chapter?

~SpicyDog99


	14. Under a Tyrant's Claw

Under a Tyrant's Claw

When it came to Pyrrhia's draconic residents, the Nightwings had always been the outcasts. Each of the other tribes had their own part of the continent to call home—from the swamp-loving Mudwings to the aquatic Seawings, from the Icewings in the northern tundra to the Sandwings in the southern desert. Even the Rainwings had their rainforest, an environment so alien that for years no other tribe had wished to investigate its interior. Each tribe had a home. A region given to them by their ancestors of old, to be eventually bestowed on their own descendants for years to come. A place where they belonged.

The Nightwings had no such luxury.

They were outsiders, denizens of a land far from Pyrrhia's shores. Few Nightwings remembered their ancient home, the Lost City of the Night, and none recalled its location. The tribe had fled their home centuries ago, flying blindly across the vast oceans of the world in hopes of finding a new home. The only place they found was a volatile, volcanic island, seeping with magma and rocked by earthquakes. Prey was scarce, and it only became scarcer with each passing year. Between the ash, the hunger, and the other hostile dragon tribes, the Nightwings were hard-pressed to call the island home. They hadn't even given it a name in the years that they'd lived there; 'the island' was as distant of a title as it deserved.

After their island's fiery demise, the Nightwings had hoped that the rainforest would provide something better. That, despite high tensions between themselves and the Rainwings, they could build themselves a newer, better home—a place that they could finally call their own. Naïve? Perhaps, yet the young and old of the tribe had hoped anyway for a better future.

Mastermind held no such delusions.

To be sure, the Nightwing scholar definitely preferred the rainforest to the island. It may have been muggy and infested with buzzing insects, but it was abundant with prey and much, much safer. However, Mastermind knew that old hatreds died hard, that past crimes were long remembered and hard to forgive. The Nightwings had done little to endear themselves to their Pyrrhian cousins, so he'd expected little charity in return.

That didn't make things any easier when the Rainwings abandoned them to Blister's clutches.

Mastermind had been woken in the middle of the night by the sound of distant screaming and roaring. Smoke permeated the air as flames licked the sky—for a traumatic moment Mastermind thought he was witnessing the island's eruption once more, before realizing that he was still in his jail cell. The undergrowth was dark, lit sporadically by flashes from the distant flames. Blister's dragons swooped overhead, flashes of tan and silver piercing the darkness, barbed spears and sharpened claws glinting in the firelight. They circled the village; Mastermind heard the wails and panicked voices of his fellow Nightwings. His jailors and the rest of the Rainwings guards were nowhere to be seen.

 _Well,_ he had thought miserably, _that didn't take long._

A pair of Icewings had tromped over to his cell. In no time they tore the bars down and yanked him out, their serrated claws digging painfully into his scales.

"By the moo—"

"Not a word, Nightwing," snarled one of the Icewings, a stony-faced soldier with long, intimidating spikes crowning his head.

They dragged him through the undergrowth and back to the Nightwing village. The entire tribe was outside, surrounded by nasty-looking Icewings. A few Nightwings bristled at their long-time foe, though the vast majority huddled together in fear. A dragonet screamed pitifully, its mother trying in vain to quiet her; an Icewing hollered for silence, and the dragonet stopped abruptly. To the north, the wall of flame passed by as it forged eastward, bathing the village in an alien light. The Icewings virtually glowed in the light, their scales refracting the glow in a halo around each of them. The Nightwings, by contrast, melted together into a puddle of darkness. The whites of their pupils were the only thing distinguishing them from the dark surroundings.

White and black, white and black. Once more Nightwings found themselves at the mercy of their ice-born cousins. It had been years since _that_ war…yet still the old hatreds lingered.

 _Some things never change,_ thought Mastermind.

The Icewings kept them hemmed in for the rest of the night, as the blaze slowly moved east. The forest was eerily quiet—no buzzing insects, shrieking birds or calling monkeys. Just the shaky whispers and quiet crying of an entire tribe of displaced dragons. The stoic Icewings looked on.

The sky brightened; at first Mastermind thought the fire was growing even larger, until he realized that the warm lavender glow spreading from the eastern horizon was the rising sun. He felt cold, despite the warm air. As a scholar he'd never placed much faith in omens. Yet now, as he watched the distant light of the fire wink out, he found himself questioning his skepticism.

 _Of three sisters who blister, blaze, and burn…no matter what, there was always going to be fire._

 _Three sisters of fire. And the rest of Pyrrhia gets scorched by the flames._

He shuddered.

"Father."

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked up to see Starflight and Fatespeaker, shaken but otherwise unharmed. His heart both soared and plummeted. His son and his friend were safe, but they'd been captured alongside the rest of the Nightwings. Mastermind would have expected his son to flee with his other friends; there was little Starflight could do to help the Nightwings, and getting captured by Blister meant the blasted Sandwing now had a bargaining chip against the other dragonets. After all, it was the _smart_ thing to do.

He nodded to the three. "Starflight, Fatespeaker. Glad to see you aren't hurt. I wish we were meeting under more ideal circumstances." His eyes spoke the question that hadn't been said out loud.

Starflight's head lowered, as if in shame. Fatespeaker whispered something in his ear, her eyes brimming with concern. She turned to Mastermind.

"We…didn't feel it was right to leave the tribe. Not when we're all suffering like this."

"We need to stand together. All of us, including me," said Starflight, his voice weak yet strained, as if he were trying to act strong. "If any of my friends were in my place, watching their Blister capture their tribe, they wouldn't run like cowards. They'd stay with their tribe. They'd be loyal." He sighed.

"They'd be brave…"

"Besides," said Fatespeaker forcibly, "It's not like we could've escaped. Blister's soldiers are way too fast—they would've caught us in a heartbeat, and we'd be right back here anyway! So why bother? Right? Uh…" Her upbeat voice drew more than a few eyes, and she quieted.

Mastermind cocked his head. Huh. It may not have been the smartest choice, but Starflight had decided his tribe's welfare meant more to him than his own safety. An honorable choice, no doubt.

Fat lot of good that did them now.

"Have you seen your sister?"

"Fierceteeth? She's over there, sulking." Starflight pointed his snout somewhere towards the opposite side of the crowd. "We ran into her a moment ago. It didn't go well," he said simply.

"She's _really_ angry at Glory right now," said Fatespeaker, "which I think is totally unreasonable. None of us could've known this would happen—Blister just comes right out of the night, and _wham!_ The forest's on fire, everything's gone crazy. Three moons, even _I_ didn't get a vision about this." She petered off into irritated grumbling.

Mastermind cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "I'm guessing the rest of the tribe shares similar sentiments?"

Neither one answered.

"Hmmm. To be fair, your friend Glory did promise the tribe would be safe from Blister…" He turned his gaze to the Icewings, who were starting to look less intimidating and more bored.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Starflight open his mouth, then close it. Open it, then close it again. Finally he heard him sigh in exasperation.

"I've got nothing, father. No excuses, no explanations. I…we…should have been prepared for this. And we weren't. We failed. Again." His son's body shook. Suddenly he reared up, wrenched his blindfold off his face and shredded it beneath his claws.

"Starflight!" shouted Fatespeaker, her eyes wide as she backed away.

His face was a mess. The area around his eyes was still rough and crusted with scar tissue, his black scales mangled by the burns he'd sustained during the dragonets' assault on the Nightwing island. His eyes stared ahead at a distant point, his pupils dark and lifeless. His expression was contorted into one of abject fury.

"THREE MOONS! WHY CAN'T WE DO _ANYTHING_ RIGHT?"

He panted, still shaking slightly in rage and grief. Everyone was staring silently at him: the Nightwings with shock and horror at his scarred face, the Icewings with morbid curiosity.

"Starflight?" Fatespeaker whispered, on the verge of tears. "Please, Star, don't…don't blame yourse—"

"I'm _not_ blaming myself," he said, straining to keep his voice level as he gazed blindly at the tatters of his blindfold. "I'm blaming all of us. Me, Glory, Tsunami, Clay, Sunny—we promised to keep the Nightwings safe. We promised we _could_ , just like we promised we could bring peace to Pyrrhia. We're all responsible for this." He began poking the ground moodily.

"Guess that makes us a bunch of liars. A bunch of dragonets playing war."

The scholar side of Mastermind was busy analyzing his son. _Tense muscles, followed by intense emotional outbreak,_ he thought. _Feelings of frustration and worthlessness. Lots of stress, likely due to burden of heavy responsibility. Depression? Most likely, with some acute anxiety and trauma. Would make a fascinating psychological study._

The father side of Mastermind was horrified at what the scholar side was doing and wanted nothing more than to wrap his son in his wings and hold him tight.

In the end, he did neither.

"Failure is always an option," he said.

He turned his gaze back to his son, looking him straight in his blinded eyes. Starflight raised his head.

"What?"

"Failure is always an option," he repeated. "It is a quote passed down through many generations of Nightwing scientists. It reminds us, constantly, of what are job entails."

He began scratching idly at the dirt, his talons itching for scroll now that the memories had been stirred.

"Starflight, do you know how many times I have failed over the years?"

His son didn't answer.

"More times than I can keep track of—and trust me, I'm very good at keeping track of things. Whenever I would begin a new experiment, or start work on a new project, I would fail many, many times before I'd get anywhere close to success. The number of theories I've scrapped, the prototypes I've had to rework…in my line of work, failure isn't just expected. It's _necessary_ to achieve success."

"What's your point?"

Mastermind gazed around at the Nightwing village. The huts were ramshackle, flimsy things, built with bamboo struts and covered with giant leaves and mud. The Nightwings, though not as malnourished as when they first arrived, still looked thin and weak compared to the powerful Icewing soldiers.

"This Nightwing village…it's an experiment, isn't it? A test to see if two tribes of dragons could put aside their differences and live together within one environment. An experiment. Your experiment.

"In fact, you could say the peace meeting between Blister, Blaze, and Burn was also an experiment, to see if three warring siblings could peacefully decide the future of their tribe. When that experiment failed, you and your friends tried a different one—banding together to fight Blister as one.

"All the things you and you're friends have tried to do to make Pyrrhia a better place—they're all experiments. Experiments that no one has attempted before. Experiments that might succeed, or just as easily fail. Maybe they fail because you made an error; maybe the variables just didn't line up right." He paused, leveling his gaze at his son again.

"Whatever the reason, a _true_ scientist will keep experimenting. He isn't bothered by failure. He'll take the results, learn from them, and apply his new knowledge to his next experiment. He'll keep doing this, over and over, until finally his experiment succeeds."

He flicked a speck of dust of his talon.

"Then again, if you don't experiment in the first place…"

Fatespeaker blinked and cocked her head. "…then you'll never succeed," she finished.

Starflight managed a weak smile. "That's a roundabout way of saying it, but I think I get it."

Suddenly Mastermind spotted something in the sky, winging in from the northeast. Two shapes, one white, the other tan. He grimaced, his good evaporating.

"Though it would help if a certain Sandwing queen stopped interfering…"

* * *

The Nightwings were a pathetic lot.

Blister had visited the Scorpion's Den only once in her life. After Smolder's botched attempt at killing Thorn, she paid a quick trip to the town to ensure it was still firmly under her control. She thought the lowlifes of that cesspool were a sad bunch of dragons.

They were nothing compared to the Nightwings.

Had she not been so mad at the Nightwings (and maybe had a heart capable of compassion), Blister might have felt an ounce of pity for the black-scaled dragons. As it was, she bared her fangs in disgust as she and Icicle touched down next to the captive tribe of dragons. She shuddered slightly. She was going to request a sand bath immediately once she returned to camp.

"Mother, Father," said Icicle as she immediately bowed low, splaying her wings in submission to the two Icewings in front of her. "Queen Blister has arrived to see the Nightwings."

Tundra, Icicle's mother, nodded her head curtly at Blister. The Icewing bore no crown and wore no jewelry, save for a necklace strung with dragon teeth. Skywing teeth, Blister had learned the first time they met. Blister found it gross.

"Your Highness. I trust you and your Sandwings are well?"

"They are. We suffered very few casualties during the battle. Once my scouts have finished combing the trees for survivors, we'll be moving our camp further east to follow the battle lines and pursue the dragonets."

"Already?" said Narwhal, Tundra's mate. "It's been hardly a few hours since the battle. Certainly the troops deserve a little rest and a chance to cele—"

Blister eyes narrowed a pinch. "Our troops will celebrate when the dragonets have been killed and their army destroyed."

To his credit, Narwhal didn't flinch. "Of course, Your Highness."

"Now then. The Nightwings?"

Tundra and Narwhal led Blister to the clustered group of dragons, with Icicle tagging along. A silent signal from Tundra, and four guards sprang into position around them. Blister noticed something peculiar about them.

"Your guards," she said, "are they wearing some sort of…mask?"

"It's a helm," Tundra replied without looking back, "specifically designed for our finest warriors."

The guards did seem to be wearing a strange sort of ice helmet. It covered the upper halves of their skulls, with holes cut out for their eyes and nostrils. It flowed back around their neck spikes and curved around towards their lower jaws, where it split into two thin segments that ran parallel to their snouts, allowing them to move and open their jaws without needing to remove the helmet.

"Interesting," said Blister.

"They're the Frostguard," said Icicle, stepping up next to Blister. "Our best soldiers and greatest frostbreathers. They train day and night to make sure their scales are strong and their skills sharper. They're all of the First Circle, and they've sworn their lives to protecting us from all harm." She was practically boasting by the end.

"If you say so…" said Blister noncommittally.

Tundra and Narwhal stopped a good wingspan from the closest Nightwing. "We were going to kill them, Your Highness—slit their throats with our own talons instead of letting them burn. Surely you know of our tribe's history with theirs. From the very first war we fought against them, to the massacre of the Icewing prisoners at the Skywing arena by Morrowseer…" Her voice drifted off.

"These dragons have made us suffer," Narwhal continued where his mate had stopped. "We would love nothing more than to rid Pyrrhia of this plague once and for all. Still, we thought it wise to consult you beforehand. You did make a deal with Morrowseer, didn't you?"

She did. And she certainly had a bone to pick with these dragons.

"So what will it be?" asked Tundra. "Kill them? Or perhaps enslave them? You said you needed dragons to clear out the burnt trees. What more fitting task for these lizards than to clear away the remains of their new home?"

"All in good time," said Blister, beady eyes scanning the crowd. "But first, your daughter mentioned on the way here that you'd managed to capture one of the dragonets?"

"Ah yes, we did!" Tundra exclaimed. "A very fortunate turn of events, to have such an advantage. Guards! Bring the blind one forward."

The blind one. The one that betrayed her. Blister remembered now—at the peace meeting, the Nightwing dragonet had been wrapped in a peculiar blindfold. Though, as the guards shoved him forward, it had seemed that Starflight of the Nightwings had forgone the blindfold, instead revealing his scarred face and sightless eyes to everyone. The dragonet stood tall and did not shy away as the Icewings around him leaned forward for a closer look. They whispered among themselves.

Blister stepped forward, claws tapping lightly on the soft rainforest turf. She circled Starflight, gazing him up and down. He stood stock still, almost like a statue, just as he had the first time they'd met back in the Seawing Summer Palace.

Blister chuckled. Dragonets. They were so amusing.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Starflight?" she said, trailing a talon up his flank. "Almost a month since we last met. You do remember, don't you?"

He kept staring straight ahead. Blister scanned the crowd again. Two dragons near the back looked worried, an older male and a female dragonet. The rest of the Nightwings didn't look bothered that their "prophecy" dragonet was in danger. Some even looked happy; one dragonet near the front looked particularly smug.

"You there," Blister pointed at the dragonet. "Step forward."

With a hesitant glance left and right, the dragonet stepped forward. She gave Starflight a wide berth.

"What's your name?"

"Fierceteeth," she replied. "And if you think you can use my brother as leverage against us, you better think again. Our tribe has disowned Starflight."

Despite his calm façade, Blister saw Starflight cringe slightly. She flicked her tongue. "Brother, hmmm? And you feel no concern for his well-being? No worry of what I might do to him?"

Fierceteeth bared her yellow, crooked teeth. She didn't look fierce, so much as downright stupid.

"My _brother_ led us to this stupid rainforest. _He_ had us live in these rundown huts. _He_ thought it was a good idea to have a Rainwing rule over us."

"Glory was a good queen!" shouted Starflight. "She would have treated all of you fairly if you'd just given her a chance!"

"Shut up, brother!" screamed Fierceteeth as the rest of the Nightwings hissed at Starflight's outburst. "That Rainwing doesn't give a rotting carcass about us. She could barely protect her tribe, let alone ours. Look what happened when Blister attacked! She and dragons ran, like the cowards they are, and left us in this crazy Sandwing's clutches." She growled at Blister, who had to restrain herself from laughing out loud.

"Well. This is all very amusing, seeing your little tribe politics out in the open. But let's move on. The question remains: what am I to do with your miserable selves?" she said, walking between Starflight and Fierceteeth.

"If you choose to kill us," spat Fierceteeth, "we'll go down fighting. All of us."

"As much as I'd enjoy watching that happen, I'm afraid I have other plans for your tribe." Blister began pacing in front of the Nightwings. She made sure every eye was on her before continuing.

"One of your tribe once promised me that I would become queen of the Sandwings. He told me that, in fact, your prophecy had chosen _me_ , and that no matter what happened I would end up on my mother's throne with my sisters dead."

She whirled around, venom in her eyes.

"So what did you do? What was your devious plan? Why, it was to have a bunch of half-baked, clueless dragonets choose me for queen. And what was your safeguard, your 'guarantee' that the plan would work? _This_ useless lump of scales." She whacked Starflight with her claw, sending him stumbling to the ground. Someone in the crowd shrieked, but her cry was quickly muffled.

Blister breathed heavily. Smoke billowed from her nostrils with every angry puff.

"No. I had to earn my throne the hard way. Using my strength, using my wits, using what few dragons I had under my command. You Nightwings were no help—by all rights I should slaughter you all right now."

The Nightwings balked and wilted, despite their fierce glares. Out of the corner of her eye, Blister saw Tundra smile with glee.

"But I'm not going to kill you."

As everyone—Icewing and Nightwing—stared in shock at her words, Blister flipped her tail around and began tracing the edge of its barb with a talon.

"You will join me. You will fight for me. You will make up for your past crimes by helping me bring Pyrrhia under the rule of its rightful queen. Most of all," she said, flicking her tail away, "you will help me hunt down the dragonets, who have defied your will. You will help me fight the Rainwings that have harassed my troops and oppressed your tribe. Do this, Nightwings, and you'll earn your pardon. Do this, and you'll be accepted within my ranks. Do this, and you'll no longer be the outcast dragons that Pyrrhia has labeled you as."

Blech. Blister had to suppress the urge vomit as she said that.

"What about the Icewings?" said Fierceteeth, eyeing Tundra, Narwhal, and the rest with a seething glare. "You work with them, our enemy. Why should we trust that you won't let them turn on us the second we join you?"

 _Camel spit,_ thought Blister. _Should have thought of that beforehand._

"The Icewings work for _me_ ," she said, turning to stare at Tundra pointedly. "I can assure you that they will treat you and your dragons with the respect you deserve."

Tundra's furious glare would have frozen any lesser dragon in her tracks. Fortunately, Blister was no lesser dragon.

Though the Nightwings still looked uneasy, Blister saw with satisfaction that most of the hostile glares had vanished.

"And you guarantee that we'll have our revenge on Glory and her Rainwings?" said Fierceteeth.

Blister spread her wings in acquiescence. "Once we have them cornered, they'll be all yours."

"What if we don't join you?"

Blister closed her wings. She slithered a forked tongue between her teeth.

"You're smart dragons. I trust you will make the smart decision."

Silence. A myriad of emotions crossed Fierceteeth's face: distrust, temptation, uncertainty. Around her, the Nightwings began to shift, looking slightly less scared at the prospect of another way out of their predicament. Inwardly Blister smiled. Her silver, forked tongue could work wonders.

Of course, having a legion of Sandwings and Icewings at her back was immensely helpful.

"Make your decision soon, Nightwings," she said, turning away. "It is not wise to keep the Queen of Poison waiting."

As the Nightwings conversed among themselves, Blister headed back to where Tundra and Narwhal stood, fuming.

"Pardon my tone, Your Highness," said Tundra, "but have you lost your MIND?"

Blister's snout curled in a slight growl. "I can assure you, Tundra, that I'm perfectly aware of what I'm doing."

"You're letting the Nightwings _join_ us?" shouted Narwhal, his voice as sharp as his bristling mane of ice spikes. "After all they've done to us…after all they've done to you…you're going to trust them to fight for us?"

"Let me make something perfectly clear," said Blister authoritatively. "I have not forgotten what the Nightwings have done, nor have I forgiven them. The Nightwings will get what they deserve in due time. Until then, it would be very foolish to throw away a potentially valuable ally. These dragons don't like the Rainwings, and we can _use_ that to our advantage."

"I don't like this," said Tundra. "You're taking a big gamble on the Nightwings when we could easily kill them off right now."

Blister eyed Tundra, her black, beady orbs staring in Tundra's pale ones.

"No queen has ever won her throne without taking a gamble. I took far greater risks than this during the War of Secession, and I was rewarded with my mother's throne. I'm going to conquer Pyrrhia, and I will take as many risks as necessary to do it."

Tundra's eyes narrowed to angry slits. She snorted a plume of cold mist from her nostrils.

"You're treading dangerous ground, Blister. I may owe you the Icewing throne, but that doesn't mean I'll let you trod recklessly over my tribe's honor. The Nightwings. Must. Pay."

"Patience, Tundra," said Blister. "Your tribe will get its revenge eventually."

She turned around and flared her wings, preparing for takeoff.

"I'll send a flight of Sandwings to handle the Nightwings and bring them to my camp. They'll stay there and leave your tribe in peace. There will be _no_ misunderstandings between your dragons and the Nightwings. Understood?"

She departed without waiting for an answer, winging silently into the sky. As she wheeled around to head back to the Sandwing camp, she gazed one last time at the village, where the Icewings held the Nightwings hostage. Tundra and Narwhal watched her go, their eyes drilling into her even across the distance. Finally, they turned and vanished among the ranks of their troops.

Blister hadn't expected Tundra and Narwhal to trust her after helping them overthrow Glacier. Frankly, she didn't need them to. They were wartime allies, nothing more. All she wanted was their soldiers fighting beside hers on the battlefield. And yet, as Blister's thoughts drifted back to her mother's reign, she couldn't help but feel that her fledgling empire was one perilous step away from fracturing. In her attempt to manipulate dragons into fighting for her, she'd resurrected an old rivalry that was better off staying dead.

She had more than enough enemies between the dragonets, that bandit leader Thorn, and the other queens of Pyrrhia. Not to mention her own Sandwings, many of whom considered her a usurper and tyrant. And now she had to deal with this conflict between her own allies?

Great moons. Taking her mother's throne had been easy. Keeping herself on it was another thing entirely.

 _How did you do it, mother? How did you unite the Sandwings and crush all dissent so effortlessly?_

She closed her eyes, and for a moment remembered her mother in all her regal, intimidating glory.

 _How did you become so_ powerful _?_

Not even the wind answered her this time.

* * *

 **A/N:** We'll be getting to Glory and the other dragonets in the next chapter, just hang in there. Speaking of which, yes, Starflight and Fatespeaker were both left behind in the mad retreat from the rainforest, as were the rest of the Nightwings. I deliberately avoided mentioning them last chapter for specifically this reason. The losses just keep compounding themselves. Blister effectively has three tribes under her control now, and has a driven a fourth tribe out of its home. That's, what, HALF of Pyrrhia? Man, she is absolutely steamrolling everyone. It seems the dragonets will be needing more help than even the Mudwings can provide. Perhaps they'll find an interest in...oh, I don't know...the Sky Kingdom? ;)

Mastermind's quote, "Failure is always an option," is taken from one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Mythbusters. It's something that the show's hosts have often reiterated time and again as they blow stuff up. I thought it would be a fitting thing for Mastermind to believe considering he's a scientist/engineer who's obviously had many years of study and research under him.

I also find it interesting that Sutherland created a rivalry between Icewings and Nightwings. Given that the Nightwing island is somewhere off the northern coast of Pyrrhia (I think?) it would make sense that the one tribe Nightwings might have run-ins with would be the Icewings. But did you also notice that Icewings, as per their element, have whitish scales? And the Nightwings have, well, black scales? And they hate each other's guts? Hmmm. Seems like more than just a coincidence...

I was going to release this chapter on Halloween...but then I got lazy for a week. XP Oh well, happy delayed Halloween everyone! The only thing scarier than Blister's imperial ambitions...is Fierceteeth's dental problems. Maybe, if the stars align, I can see you guys again before Thanksgiving?

~SpicyDog99


	15. The Fallen Ones

The Fallen Ones

The dawn had already broken, the sky streaked with lavender, when the dragonets and their Rainwing refugees finally stopped to rest their aching wings. They were nearing the Mud Kingdom by this point, the tall canopy giving way to shorter, stouter trees. The crickets' chorus gradually quieted, replaced with the distant calls of birds and monkeys. The acrid smell of smoke had faded long ago as they left the forest fire behind. The only thing Sunny could smell were the blossoming flowers around her, their pretty colors and sticky scents almost jarring to the little Sandwing.

She felt claustrophobic. The rainforest, the trees, they were suffocating her. Everywhere she looked she was reminded of the fire. She closed her eyes, and saw Blister's dragons mercilessly pounce on the Rainwings. She heard their shrieks of fear, their screams of anguish. Sunny wrapped her wings around herself, wishing only to curl up into a ball and forget last night forever.

 _Head count,_ she thought, latching onto a clear task to push away the panic. _Make sure everyone's together._

She scanned the group behind her. Clay, flanked by his siblings, checking through and making sure everyone was OK. Peril, settling on the ground, wincing as the grass beneath her talons withered and burned; she quickly found a barren patch of dirt and settled on it. Tsunami and Riptide moving among the Rainwings, trying to keep them together. Glory, her head tucked beneath Deathbringer's wing as he murmured something soothing to her. Webs, face twisted in pain, massaging his sore muscles. And, towering above them all, was Heron, her face locked in a pained grimace as she scanned the skies for enemies.

They were all there. Except…

"Wait…where's Starflight?"

The entire group went silent as Sunny's words sank in.

"Oh, for the love of—I thought he was with you!" yelled Tsunami, turning an incredulous glare on her four friends.

"No he wasn't!" said Glory, pulling her head out from under Deathbringer's wing. "We were busy dealing with a giant wall of fire. And, you know, _not dying_."

"Where could he have been?" said Clay. "If he wasn't in the Rainwing village last night, then where…"

Clay stopped short, eyes wide.

"The Nightwing village. We left Starflight and his whole tribe behind!"

Their group exploded into a cacophony of raised voices. Sunny buried her head in her claws, trying hard to hold back the tears.

"We were supposed to protect them—"

"—couldn't, Blister was hammering us—"

"Just stop, Glory, this is getting us nowhere."

"Oh, it's _my_ fault now, huh? There you go again, Tsunami, blaming—"

"Maybe we could have sent a, uh…"

"You're queen of their tribe too! You can't just leave them in the middle of—"

A thunderous roar silenced them.

"Enough!" screamed Heron. "This is beyond ridiculous. You're all responsible for this mess of a night, and arguing about it isn't going to solve anything. Gather the Rainwings—we need to keep moving before Blister catches up to us."

"B-but, Starflight—" Sunny stammered, before being cut off.

"If Blister's gotten her claws on your Nightwing friend then he's as good as dead. Rescuing him is out of the question and only the brainless would think Blister would show mercy on her foes. Same goes for his tribe."

"Heron—"

"I will not hear any more of this! We've already lost seven sib troops and my own brother to that sand snake. This is not the time for heroics. We need to get back and tell my sister that an army of Sandwings and Icewings is headed her way. So do me a favor and shut your mouths. We're heading out." The large Mudwing turned away, muttering and cursing under her breath. Subdued, the five dragonets followed, the Rainwings trailing behind them.

The flight to the Mud Kingdom was a somber affair. Heron flew point, her wing strokes sharp and agitated, almost disrupting Sunny as she flew in the large dragon's wake. The rest of them flew silently, their hearts heavy, as they contemplated Starflight's fate. The Rainwings, tired after a long night's flight, lagged far behind; with a sigh of resignation, Tsunami turned back to regroup the Rainwings, her normally authoritative voice now softened by fatigue. They flew low and quick, wishing only to reach their destination as soon as possible.

The sun had just cracked the eastern horizon when they were hailed by an outlying patrol. Upon seeing Heron they saluted, bowing their heads in midflight, before escorting their group to the palace. Sunny spotted uneasy looks passing between the soldiers, who were obviously concerned as to why only one of the queen's sibs was returning with a handful of Mudwings and a large contingent of Rainwings.

Sunny closed her eyes, a heavy weight pressing down her little frame. _How did it come to this? We did everything we could…_

Her thoughts were interrupted as they descended outside the main entrance to the palace. At this hour of the day the normally busy palace was quiet, the soldiers still sleeping in their huts. Their escorts, however, wasted no time in notifying Moorhen and the rest of the Mudwings of Heron's return. Within minutes of their arrival a sizeable number of Mudwings had gathered around the dragonets. It wasn't long before Moorhen came out of the palace, two of her siblings flanking her.

"Heron!" cried the queen, who, despite the crowd of onlookers, rushed forward and enveloped Heron with her massive wings. "Oh, thank the moons. The messenger said a patrol found you and the dragonets near the outskirts. I was so worried that something had gone wrong…" Her voice drifted off as she took in their haggard group.

"Heron," said Moorhen, a quaver in her voice, "where's Caiman?"

Heron's tough exterior cracked momentarily—for a moment Sunny saw a young, heartbroken Mudwing mourning the loss of her beloved brother. Then Heron hardened her gaze and spoke, her voice reaching every pair of ears in the palace.

"Caiman has fallen."

A palpable wave of shock surged through the Mudwings. Moorhen balked and took a step backwards.

"Fallen? How? Surely eight troops of Mudwings would be enough to hold the rainforest."

"We underestimated Blister. She attacked us in force only four days after our arrival." Heron turned to address the gathered crowd of Mudwings.

"She struck in the middle of the night. First she set the forest ablaze, and fanned the flames so high it became an inferno too large for us to put out. Then, while we were busy organizing our forces, she slammed us from two fronts: her Sandwings came from the south while her Icewing allies came from the north."

"And you had no warning of this?" said Moorhen.

"None. In fact, the days before the attack were eerily quiet. No enemy scouts, no raiding parties. We thought our show of force had scared Blister into rethinking her attack." Heron shook her head sadly.

"Our retreat was a mess. We tried to outrun Blister, but her troops were too fast for the Rainwings. So we made one last stand to buy the dragonets and their Rainwings some time." Heron dipped her head, face worn with regret. "I told him we couldn't hold, that we needed to fall back to a better position…but he refused to listen. Blister's troops overwhelmed him. I had no choice but to flee, and get the Rainwings out of there."

"And the other sib troops?" Moorhen looked defeated, grasping blindly for hope.

Heron gestured to Clay and his siblings, who looked uncomfortable being the center of attention.

"These were the only ones who made it."

Silence settled over the palace like thick mud. Moorhen exhaled slowly, looking suddenly twenty years older. Her two other siblings came up next to her, murmuring in her ear. Finally Moorhen sighed heavily and addressed the crowd.

"Listen, my tribe," she said as she stepped forward, circling around to speak to everyone. "The news we just received was not something we ever wished to be true. I know many of you have friends among those who fell with Caiman, and wish to mourn the loss of fellow comrades. I know many of you wonder what this means for us, with the rainforest in ruins and Blister's forces a mere day's flight away.

"I will tell you what we'll do. Today, we honor the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters. Though we don't have their bodies to bury, we can still remember their acts of bravery and thank them for giving their lives.

"Tomorrow, we will shore up our defenses. We will gather our weapons, don our armor, and hone our fighting. We will honor our fallen comrades by ensuring their sacrifice was not in vain. We will stand together, a tribe united, to face this Sandwing tyrant. Tomorrow, we will meet Blister's army in the sky, and we will pound her forces to smithereens!"

Rallied by their queen, the Mudwing troops roared their approval. Moorhen looked on with pride. Even Heron managed a slight smile.

"Blister will not defeat us! We've beaten her before, and we shall beat her again! Strength and Courage, Mudwings! Strength and Courage!"

"Strength and Courage!" echoed the Mudwings, roaring in unison.

As the Mudwings dispersed to their duties, Moorhen and Heron approached Sunny and her friends.

"Sunny," said Moorhen, "I'm glad to see you and your friends are unharmed."

"Well, almost all of them," said Heron. "They lost their Nightwing friend."

"Starflight," said Tsunami. "His name's Starflight. And yes, he and the other Nightwings were left behind."

"We've all suffered losses in these times," said Moorhen. "If you wish, you may join us for the memorials. We'll pay tribute to Starflight alongside our own soldiers."

"He's not dead!"

Silence. Everyone was staring at Sunny. With a start she realized she had spoken. She fidgeted, feeling very small under the scrutiny of two powerful dragons.

"W-with all due respect, Queen Moorhen…I don't think Starflight is dead."

"I told you already," said Heron, "if Blister's got Starflight in her clutches, he's as good as dead."

"I don't care," said Sunny, feeling emboldened rather than disparaged. "I've known Starflight from the moment we hatched. He's the smartest of all of us, he'll figure out a way to survive." She hesitated, before pressing on.

"We have to believe in him. We have to believe in him and his tribe."

Because if Blister killed Starflight…Sunny refused to follow that train of thought. Her heart felt like it would splinter into a million pieces every time she thought of her Nightwing friend dying. He'd nearly died once before, when the Nightwing island had erupted. At the time Sunny had little time to dwell on Starflight's fate, courtesy of Fierceteeth and her lackeys. But she knew that she would never be able to live with herself if she lost her loveable, know-it-all friend.

It may have been naïve, but Sunny refused to accept Starflight's death until she saw his dead body with her own eyes.

Moorhen nodded with gentle acceptance. "I won't press the issue. Regardless, you're free to attend our memorials. We'd be honored by your presence."

"And after that?" asked Glory. "The Rainwings don't have a home to go back to anymore."

"They may stay with us, for the time being. When the time comes, however, I expect them to help us fight Blister as well."

"But…but most of them can't! All we have left are elders and dragonets…we lost most of our fighters in the rainforest."

A hard glint appeared in Moorhen's eyes. "And unless we work hard to defend these swamps, we will lose even more dragons. The Mud Kingdom is the end of the line, dragonets—past this is the Kingdom of the Sea. And I doubt Rainwings are good at swimming."

She waved a claws in dismissal. "But now isn't the time to deal with these issues. You must all be exhausted. Heron will show you to your huts. Go with her—we'll find a place for the Rainwings and send them food and healers."

As Heron led them to their quarters, Sunny took one last look at the palace. The Mudwings, moving about their business. The Rainwings, nervous and out of place, fearful of this strange, swampy land. Her friends, silent and somber, too tired and drained to do anything but follow Heron. And, surrounding them all, the swamps of the Mud Kingdom: cold, foreign, and cloaked in a layer of early morning fog. The very earth beneath Sunny claws seemed to sap her of her warmth.

She shivered, Moorhen's words coming back to her. _The Mud Kingdom is the end of the line, dragonets—past this is the Kingdom of the Sea._

If Blister crushed them here…no amount of optimism could convince Sunny of a happy end.

* * *

So it was probably a blessing for Sunny and her friends that they didn't have to rely on optimism alone to fight Blister. They had allies—the Mudwings, obviously, as well as the Rainwings. The very day she arrived in the Mud Kingdom, Sunny had the fortune to be united with yet a third ally.

Though it nearly ended in disaster.

Sunny was woken late in the afternoon by a load roar. Her head shot up, and she sat listening for it. There it was, that same roar again, followed by what sounded like a long, garbled string of curses.

The little Sandwing knew of only one dragon in Pyrrhia with a mouth as dirty as that. Scrambling to her claws, Sunny darted from the hut, forgetting in her excitement to wake her friends. She bounded into the air, flapping hard for the northwestern edge of the camp, toward the source of the voices.

"…faced blobs…spit…Go to…argh!"

Her good spirits began to fade as Sunny began to hear the sound of fighting. Around her, patrols of Mudwings veered off their routes to investigate the commotion. She saw one Mudwing flying frantically for the palace, likely to warn the queen. With an extra push she flew faster, hoping to arrive before anything serious occurred.

"That all you got, you slimy, mud-spattered—"

Cresting a small copse of trees, Sunny stumbled on a sight that made her want to scream with joy and horror. Roughly twenty Sandwings were hemmed in on the ground, surrounded by an ever-growing crowd of hostile Mudwing troops. The Sandwings were dirty and malnourished; Sunny spotted several with nasty-looking wounds. Fighting at the head of the Sandwings was none other than Sunny's mother, Thorn. Despite looking like a half-starved desert rat, Thorn fought so viciously that the Mudwings were having trouble keeping her at bay. Right beside Thorn was a familiar-looking dragonet: Qibli, protective of Thorn as always.

"Wait, wait, wait!" shouted Sunny. She pumped her wings and flew straight into the fray, wedging herself between Thorn and Moorhen's guards. "Stop attacking! She's a friend."

"Sunny?!" cried Thorn, momentarily stunned. "What in the world…"

"You know this Sandwing?" said one of the guards.

"Yes, I do," Sunny confirmed hastily. "She's not with Blister, she's one of us. Just lower your spears, I can explain all of this to Queen Moorhen."

The guard's eyes narrowed. "How do we know she isn't one of Blister's spies? How do we know these dragons aren't a raiding party?"

" _I_ vouch for them. These dragons are allies of the Dragons of Destiny."

She didn't want to invoke that title—quite frankly she still felt like a dragonet. Still, Sunny couldn't afford to let things get ugly now. Feeling impatient, she returned the guard's glare.

The Mudwings backed off, looks of uncertainty passing between them. The guard that spoke earlier finally turned back to Sunny.

"Fine. Follow us." As the Mudwings turned to leave, Sunny heard the guard mutter, "This better not be a trap."

"Come on, Mother. We need to follow them to Queen Moorhen."

"Sunny? What are you doing here?" Thorn blurted out, reaching out to enfold Sunny in her wings. "I thought you were in the rainforest. What happened?"

Sunny ducked out of her mother's embrace. "I could ask you the same thing, mother. I'll explain everything later. Come on, we shouldn't keep Moorhen waiting."

For the second time that day Sunny drew stares as she flew into the Mudwing camp, this time with an entourage of disheveled Sandwings in tow. Moorhen and Heron met them outside the palace doors. After speaking briefly with one of the guards, the queen stepped forward.

"Sunny? What is the meaning of this?"

Sunny bowed to Moorhen. "Queen Moorhen, this is my mother, Thorn. She is the leader of a band of Sandwings known as the Outclaws. The last we heard, Blister drove the Outclaws from their hideout in the Scorpion's Den."

Moorhen cocked her head at Thorn. "Outclaws? So you're fighting against Blister?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes," Thorn replied cautiously. "Blister has hounded us across the desert and into the mountains. We were hoping to escape into the Claws of the Clouds and hide out for a while, but the civil war in the Sky Kingdom drove us out. I was hoping we could lay low here, but _someone_ had to blow our cover." Thorn glared pointedly at a meek-looking dragon behind her. With a start, Sunny realized she recognized the dragon.

 _Smolder! What's he doing with Thorn?_ Of all the dragons Sunny expected to be with Thorn, the Sandwing prince was not one of them, considering he'd attempted to turn them over to Burn.

Moorhen tilted her head in thought. "Our resources are stretched thin already, but even so…How good are your dragons at fighting, Thorn?"

Thorn cocked a wry smile. "Just ask your guards. They can tell you."

An expression passed over the large Mudwing's face. Sunny couldn't tell if Moorhen was insulted by Thorn's frank attitude or impressed by it.

"If that is the case, it would be in both of our interests to fight Blister together. If you and your Outclaws assist my Mudwings in fending off Blister's forces, then I will grant your dragons shelter within my camp."

Sunny looked beseechingly at Thorn, who bore a conflicted look.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Mo—uh, Queen Moorhen," said Thorn, "but my dragons are made up of criminals, exiles, and ex-soldiers. These dragons joined the Outclaws to escape the queen's rule, not to submit themselves to it. I don't want us to escape from one queen only to bind ourselves to another."

Moorhen's gaze got noticeably frosty—the comparison to Blister would never have gone over well. Nevertheless she nodded her head and said, "I have no wish to subjugate your dragons. I'll let you keep your independence; I only ask that you help us fight Blister."

"Are you sure they can be trusted, sister?" said Heron, speaking for the first time. "Just because they're fighting Blister that doesn't mean they're on our side. Thorn admitted it herself—this is a band of criminals."

"We may be criminals," Thorn replied, "but we're still reasonable dragons. We have no issues with the Mudwings. We have _plenty_ of reasons to hate Blister, though."

"I believe letting Thorn help us is a sound decision, Heron," said Moorhen. "Not only will her Outclaws bolster our forces, the added confusion can hurt Blister. She won't be expecting an attack from other Sandwings."

"That can also hurt us—unless you want all the sib troops to commit each Outclaw to memory, there's a very likely chance our Mudwings will attack Thorn's Sandwings by accident. Battles are chaotic—we have to expect the worst to happen."

"How about this," said Thorn. "My dragons are fast and lethal—provided we have a place to take cover, we can easily do hit-and-run strikes against Blister. We'll harass that sand snake, annoy her, and retreat back here before she can corner us. We can pick off lone troops and isolated patrols, leaving the big battles to your Mudwings. Pitched battles really aren't our style, anyway." Sunny saw several dragons behind her nod in agreement.

A smile touched Moorhen's snout. "Then it's settled. I'll have my guards lead your dragons to their quarters. Meet me in the palace an hour from now; we can discuss the details then."

With that, Moorhen dismissed the gathering. Before she left with her Outclaws, Thorn pulled Sunny aside for a private word.

"Sunny," she said, urgency in her voice, "what in the three moons has happened? Last time you dreamvisited me you said you were getting the Mudwings' help to defend the rainforest."

Sunny bowed her head, shame filling her. "It's a long story. And not a happy one."

She explained everything that had happened, from Blister's first strike to their hasty flight from the rainforest. She left out nothing, not even their abandonment of Starflight and the Nightwings. The words spilled out of her uncontrollably, a torrent of pain finally let loose from her heart. Thorn sat through it silently, only opting to gently hug Sunny when she choked up near the end.

Finally Sunny whispered, "I'm scared, mother. I…we don't what to do anymore. Everything's gone so wrong."

"We'll figure it out. _You_ will figure it out, Sunny. We've all had setbacks. I've had my fair share just trying to get the Outclaws out of the Den safely…"

Thorn touched the moonstone pendant around her neck.

"…and an even bigger setback, back in the mountains."

Sunny looked up at her mother's worn face, curiosity piqued. Her mother always seemed so indomitable. Her poise, her quiet confidence—Thorn seemed like the dragon who always had it together. But now that strength seemed to be ebbing out of her. Thorn suddenly seemed years older.

"What happened, mother?" Sunny's heart dropped yet again.

Thorn looked Sunny in the eye, black staring into green. Sadness filled the older Sandwing's gaze. Sunny sat breathless.

"Stonemover…he's dead, isn't he?"

"Blister's troops cornered us at Jade Mountain. He sacrificed himself so that we could escape." A mix of wonder and disbelief crossed Thorn's face. "Sunny, he brought down Jade Mountain."

"What?"

"He knew it was the end for him. So he lured Blister's dragons into the mountain, and…and used his magic to destroy it while we fled." Thorn shook her head, chuckled. "That crazy Nightwing. I didn't think he could do it. What a way to go…"

They lapsed into silence—mother and daughter, mourning silently for the lone Nightwing who moved mountains to save his loved ones.

"He's in a better place now, Sunny." Thorn looked up at the early evening sky, where a couple bright stars were already beginning to sparkle. "He's with the other Nightwings, up in the night sky."

"Can he see us from up there?"

Thorn nodded. "You—we—will never have to fly alone."

They gazed up at the darkening sky. As if in answer, a lone shooting star arced across the heavens, twinkling brightly down at them.

Sunny watched the star, and whispered, "Good night, father."

* * *

Nearby, Moorhen and Heron watched Thorn and Sunny's hunched figures.

"That one's been through a lot," said Moorhen, motioning subtly toward Thorn. "Tough Sandwing. Doesn't trust queens, and to be honest I don't blame her. Hopefully she and her dragons will fight well."

Heron sat silently, her face emotionless.

"What do you think, Heron? Twenty-odd Sandwings aren't much, but if Thorn can pull off her hit-and-run strategy, it might be enough to make Blister second guess herself."

Heron turned slowly to face her sister.

"If we hadn't lost fifty dragons and one of our own siblings in a pointless defense of the rainforest, we probably wouldn't be in a situation where we need the help of criminals."

Moorhen sighed. "Heron…I know Caiman's death has been hard on you."

Heron ground her teeth, suppressing the raw anguish that bubbled beneath her thick, Mudwing scales.

"The Mudwings will remember his bravery for centuries to come," continued Moorhen. "He chose an honorable death. Don't blame yourself for it."

"Save it, sister," said Heron. She turned to stalk away. "Your speech at the memorial today was more than enough."

"Heron," snapped Moorhen, her voice strained. "Stop being so dense. You're not the only one here who's hurting."

"You know _nothing_ , Moorhen," spat Heron, whirling around to face her older sister. "Caiman has always been there for me. He knew me, understood me, treated me like an actual dragon. You? You were too busy fighting a Sandwing's war to care about your only sister."

Moorhen roared, startling a couple Mudwing soldiers around them.

"You know it's true," said Heron. "You had to 'ensure your legacy' and 'do what's best for the tribe'. _Never_ did you give me the opportunity to prove myself. _Never_ did you trust me to help in the war. You pushed me to the side, and _forgot_ about me."

"Sister," growled Moorhen. "You're treading dangerous ground."

"I'm not scared of you." Heron's body trembled; she knew she couldn't beat Moorhen in a fight, but right now she was too furious to care. "I've faced down Blister's troops in head-on combat. What have you done, but sit in your palace and send Mudwings to fight your wars?"

"You wouldn't dare challenge me, sister."

A mocking smile crept up Heron's snout.

"No, I wouldn't. Keep your mud-spattered throne, Moorhen. And your politics." Heron slapped her tail on the ground and stomped away, leaving Moorhen gaping by the palace entrance.

"Nothing you do can bring back my brother."

In the silence that followed, a lone heron called from a nearby bog, its mournful song echoing through the cool, evening air.

* * *

 **A/N:** Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wait, what?

[Checks calendar]

Well, uh...this is embarrassing. This two month delay has broken my previous record set back in summer, and I'm not proud of it. I'll spare you the details of the hiatus, that's not why you're here. Seems kind of pointless for me to say that I'll try to update more frequently...but seriously, I do want to write this story more quickly. It's been more than half a year since I started. Did you know that I originally wanted to finish the story _over summer_? Like, last summer? XP

Well, enough prattling on about that. Things in the story seem kind of hopeless for our dragonets, but there's always a silver lining. I'm glad to finally reunite Thorn with Sunny, and don't worry, our favorite potty-mouthed Sandwing is sticking around this time. Heron is also having a hard time dealing with Caiman's death - I think I can safely say she'll be a semi-major character in this story, or at the ver least she'll show up quite often. Odd, how things work: I wasn't intending on even naming Caiman and Heron when I planned this story, yet here I am actually fleshing out a personality a backstory for Heron! ^.^ The wonders of writing...

I read _Escaping Peril_ just last week. I won't spoil anything (yet). But suffice to say that I definitely didn't see _that_ plot twist coming. I have to say, _Escaping Peril_ is probably the trippiest book in the series yet. Now, that said, I don't think I'll be adding anything from the book into my story. As I've said earlier, everything after the main series is mostly not going to happen in this AU. I might sneak a minor character or two in, but nothing big. Definitely not _that_ plot twist, oh no. :)

Well, that's all the time I have for this week folks. Normally at this point I'd say, "see you in so-and-so weeks", but at this point I think I'm cursing myself by doing that. So I'm not gonna. Lol.


	16. A Thrilling Ambush

A Thrilling Ambush

After the memorials were done, and the Mudwings had said their last farewells to their fallen comrades, Moorhen wasted no time putting her soldiers to work. The Mudwing camp became a frenzy of activity, with soldiers rushing in and out daily on patrols and courier runs. Dragons trained from dawn to dusk, honing their skills on the ground and in the air. The roars of sparring soldiers mingled with the clanging and hissing of the forges as weapons and armor were forged. With Blister's forces so close, and battle so imminent, the entire army of Mudwings was tense, drawn tight in anticipation for war.

Tsunami found the changes both invigorating and foreboding. Always a dragon of action, she had quickly become discontent with sitting around all day watching the Mudwings go about their business. She may have failed at defending the rainforest, but that didn't mean she couldn't help out. Each day found the Seawing either out on the training field sparring with the other soldiers, or out flying patrols with Thorn's Outclaws. Moorhen had refused any requests to continue training the Rainwings, saying they were too few and too inexperienced in the ways of war to be of much help. After the fall of the rainforest, Tsunami wasn't enthusiastic about it either—thinking of the Rainwings' sorry state only reminded of her of her own failures as general.

Which lead to her feelings of foreboding. The chaotic camp reminded her of the Rainwing village before Blister attacked. Back then, still ignorant to the horrors to come, Tsunami and all her friends had been excited at what they were accomplishing. They were raising an army to combat Blister's greedy ambitions, putting their individual strengths to work helping out the cause. It had been inspiring and motivational, despite all the obstacles they had to overcome. Now, with the hindsight of history, Tsunami found it arguably more difficult to be as excited with confronting Blister again.

Not that it mattered. Blister would come for them anyway.

Her forward scouts first appeared on their third day in the Mud Kingdom, skimming the trees in the distance as they took in the lay of the land. The fourth day featured more sightings of Blister's dragons, and the fifth day entire flights. A week after their arrival in the Mud Kingdom, Moorhen's soldiers reported the large bulk of Blister's forces camped at the edge of the rainforest, just out of range of Mudwing patrols but within striking distance of the palace. Tsunami could see them if she flew out close to the border. Tan shapes flitted between the trees, interspersed with white scales. Black, beady eyes and pale irises gazed warily at her as she flew past. She saw no sign of Starflight and the Nightwings, or of Blister herself. Other than that, Blister's troops were largely inactive. No blood had been drawn yet, no first strike had been made. Tsunami continued her patrols of the border region, determined to be the first to spot Blister's advance and alert the Mudwings to battle.

It was after one of these scouting runs that Tsunami returned to camp to find her friends gathered outside their huts, huddled together and hunched over something on the ground. Curious, Tsunami folded her wings in for landing and veered toward them, hitting the ground in a running lope that brought her next to them.

"Hey. What's happening?"

She looked around at them. Clay, Peril, Riptide, Glory, and Deathbringer were sitting in a semicircle around a crude map of Pyrrhia drawn in the mud. Sunny sat across from them, Thorn standing protectively by her side.

"Sunny got a message from Queen Ruby," said Riptide by way of greeting.

"Queen Ruby? When did you get in contact with her, Sunny?"

Sunny smiled. "A couple days ago. I figured while we're here we might as well make ourselves useful. So I asked Queen Moorhen if she could spare a courier to send to Ruby, asking if she'd like to join our alliance. I was going to contact her sooner or later, and now seemed like the best time to do it."

Tsunami whistled, impressed. "I assume you got a response?"

At this the little Sandwing's smile faltered a bit. "I did, but it wasn't exactly good news. Here," she said, reaching behind her for a scroll and handing it to Tsunami, "you should read it yourself."

Tsunami unrolled the scroll. Her snout slowly dropped into a scowl as she read Ruby's words.

 _To Sunny, Ambassador of the Dragons of Destiny:_

 _I have read your report of events in the rainforest, and I give my deepest condolences to you and your fellow dragons. However, while I do consider Blister to be a significant threat, I cannot afford to send any dragons to aid you right now._

 _As you are no doubt aware, the Sky Kingdom is in turmoil right now. My mother, Scarlet, has abdicated the throne and is in hiding, thanks in no small part to your Rainwing friend, Glory. Although most Skywings have recognized me as the new queen, there are many that are loyal to my mother, and have chosen to follow her into exile. I've done my best to repair the damages my mother has done to the tribe during her reign, but those efforts are currently being hampered by nonstop attacks by her dragons. Scarlet intends to take the throne back, and she's willing to plunge the entire kingdom into a civil war in order to do it._

 _If I could spare any troops for you, I would. I know the kind of tyrant that Blister is, and frankly, I consider her more destructive in the long-term than my mother. Unfortunately, all my soldiers are tied down with defending the palace and rooting out Scarlet. We've so far been unsuccessful in pinning her down, as she and her fighters are always relocating. So while I would love nothing more than to assist in your war effort, I can't do so without risking the lives of my dragons, who_ will _be attacked while my soldiers are away._

 _I do have an offer, though. If you could help me track down and capture Scarlet, then I would be free to help you fight Blister. Scarlet expects my Skywings to be hunting her, but she won't be expecting to see you or your friends. Bring any friends you want with you and meet me at dusk at the Diamond Spray Delta. We'll talk over our plans and coordinate our efforts. Together, we should be able to stop my mother's rampant attacks against her own tribe._

 _I have faith in you and your friends, Sunny. Please, consider my offer. I think we will both benefit greatly from Scarlet's death._

 _~Queen Ruby of the Skywings_

Gingerly, Tsunami rolled the scroll back up. "So Ruby can't help us for now?"

"No," said Sunny. "Starflight was right. Scarlet has the entire kingdom locked up until she's stopped. If we want Ruby's help…" She glanced about, and then started up again. "If we want Ruby's help, we'll need to find and kill Scarlet."

Tsunami eyes washed over her friends. Clay looked concerned, as did Peril, who likely wasn't thrilled at the prospect of meeting with Ruby after she'd cast her out of the Sky Kingdom. Riptide returned Tsunami's gaze with a questioning look, while Glory bore a frustrated expression, her scales a very light red color. Sunny herself looked anxious, as if she expected Tsunami to protest at the idea of leaving the front lines for even a moment.

Clay broke the silence with a sigh. "Well, I guess we'd have to deal with her sooner or later. She's been hunting us all since we melted half her face and escaped from her palace. We're all in danger as long as she's alive."

Glory nodded. "She's as dangerous to us as Blister. I say you guys should go through with the offer. Ruby seems like a reasonable queen, and if we do manage to finally off that crazy Skywing, then that's one more threat gone. Not to mention Ruby's Skywings could be really handy on our side."

Peril stiffened at Glory's words that Ruby was a reasonable queen, though she didn't say anything about it.

"Wait, what do you mean 'you guys'? You aren't going, Glory?" asked Tsunami.

Glory shook her head, her scales shifting to a slightly deeper shade of red. "As much as I'd like to finish the job I started, I can't go. The Rainwings won't last a day here without me nest-sitting them, and I don't trust Deathbringer to do a good enough job while I'm away."

"It's not _my_ fault," the Nightwing protested. "The Rainwings won't even look at me, let alone listen."

"Anyway," said Sunny, "I was thinking I would go with mother and some of her Outclaws to meet with Ruby. But I wanted to talk it over with all of you, in case any of you wanted to come, or had some other ideas." She motioned at the crude map between them, pointing at an area north of the palace. "The delta isn't far from here—a couple hours of flying at most. We can see what she has planned, and if it's something we can handle without being away too long, we can go through with it."

Immediately Peril spoke up. "I'm going."

Startled, everyone gave her confused looks.

"Peril?" said Clay. "Are you sure?"

A moment of hesitation, then the Skywing nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Scarlet is…well, she's the closest thing I've had to a mother. It's pathetic, but she's the one dragon I've had the closest connection to. Well, until you, Clay." She lifted a claw, gazing despondently at the bright red scales, at the deadly heat shimmering from them. Clay twined his tail around hers. Tsunami grimaced, unconsciously pulling her wings tight against her body.

"If we're going to kill her once and for all, then I want to be there for it. I want to confront her one last time and get all the answers I want from her." She took a breath. "I want to tell her, finally, that I'm a free dragon. That I'm not her killing tool anymore, that I'm not her champion. I want her to die knowing that she doesn't control me. Does that sound alright?"

"What about Ruby?" Tsunami interjected. "She won't like you being there. And I don't think she'd trust you any more than Scarlet."

Clay shot a hurt look at Tsunami that she ignored. Peril, unfazed, lifted her head up imperiously. "If Ruby doesn't like me, then that's her own fault. And I couldn't care less if she trusts me or not, since she doesn't even want me around her. I've never done anything to Ruby other than be myself. If she wants to make that a problem, let her." Peril lowered her head. "Once Scarlet is gone, she'll never have to see me again."

Tsunami growled quietly, unconvinced. Still, she could see the reason in Peril's argument.

"You _do_ know the most about Scarlet out of all of us here," said Sunny, "and that might help us track her down. Alright, if you want come that's fine with me."

"If you're going, then I'm going too," said Clay.

"Clay, no, you're still—"

"Injured? Weak? Unable to help?" Clay cocked his head and looked pointedly at Peril. "Well?"

Peril sighed, closing her eyes. "It's not like that Clay. You're a big help to us all. You're strong, you're loyal, you always stick by us. You're our Bigwings, don't forget that."

"I am. But being the Bigwings means more than just a shoulder to lean on." Clay paced in circle, gazing up at the Mudwing troops flying ahead, then at the ones tromping around them. "The Bigwings also leads. He helps his sibs with whatever problems they have, and goes wherever they need help. He doesn't let his sibs face danger alone."

He turned around and faced Peril again. "You're part of my troop, Peril, along with everyone else. I know how dangerous Scarlet is. I'm not going to let you face her alone."

Tsunami could see the conflicting emotions in Peril's eyes, her love and appreciation for Clay warring with her desire to keep him safe.

"Peril," said Sunny, "I think Clay can do this." Then she grinned, adding, "You know he'll just follow along anyway."

With a slight smile, Peril said, "That's true. Alright, you can come with us, Clay."

Clay beamed proudly at her. Tsunami huffed and rolled her eyes, though she stopped when Sunny gave her a hard look.

"Alright. So it's me, mother, Peril, and Clay. I know you aren't going, Glory. I assume you aren't either, Deathbringer?"

"No." He smiled toothily. "I need to nest-sit Glory."

He yelped as Glory slapped him with her tail. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Death. _You're_ the one who needs the nest-sitting."

Everyone chuckled. Sunny turned to Tsunami and Riptide. "How about you two?"

"I'll stay here," said Riptide. "I'll see about helping out around the camp. Tsunami?"

Tsunami turned from Riptide's gaze. Before her mind's eye she saw the arena again—the crowds, the hot sand, the bloodshed. Scarlet, perched haughtily on her ringside seat, watching the "thrilling" action with glee. Then she saw Gill, mouth flecked with blood, eyes bloodshot and rabid. She saw him, weak and dehydrated, and felt his dry scales beneath her claws as she straddled him, holding him down. She heard his dry, shuddering breaths, his last calls of desperate, animal fear. She saw, felt, and heard his bones crack as she twisted, her gut twisting with every shudder of his body.

Gill…her father…to see him reduced to such a state, to know it was Scarlet that forced her claw…

Tsunami's eyes flew open. She met Riptide's gaze, and a silent message passed between them. Subtly he nodded his head, agreeing to Tsunami's decision and giving his unspoken permission.

She turned back to Sunny. She'd vowed after Gill's death to someday avenge her father and make amends for her crime.

That day was finally coming.

"I'm coming. Scarlet and I have unfinished business."

* * *

They set out early that evening—she, Sunny, and Peril flying in the lead, with Clay, Thorn and a half-dozen Outclaws accompanying them. They'd brought their plan to Moorhen, and while she initially thought it risky, especially with Blister poised so close by, she ultimately relented when Sunny promised they could get Skywing reinforcements in exchange for helping Ruby.

"You sure we can make good on that promise?" Tsunami had asked Sunny as they headed out of the palace.

A determined look crossed Sunny's eyes. "We have to. It's the only way we can win this war."

Doubts still crowded Tsunami's mind. She pushed them away.

The sun had already set behind the Claws of the Clouds by the time they were on their way. The warm glow of the sun's rays on the snowcapped peaks cast the coast into an early twilight. The dark mountainsides stood to their left, giant sentinels watching over the endless bay of blue on their right. They followed the coastline, the white sand stretching forward in an winding line broken occasionally by rocks, accompanied only by the regular crashing of the surf against the shore. Tsunami eyed the darkening surroundings with caution, constantly alert for hidden dangers lurking in the growing shadows.

Eventually the sandy beach gave way to a large, muddy plain crisscrossed by numerous tributaries and streams. Long swamp grass waved back and forth in the sea breeze, while the cries of gulls roosting for the night echoed through the air. They began scanning the landscape, looking for any sign of Ruby and her entourage.

Suddenly Tsunami spotted a flash of red atop a low hill between two rivers. She pointed it out to the others.

"There she is! Let's go see what she has in store for us."

They banked around, heading toward Ruby. Tsunami roared out a greeting on the wind, which was quickly answered with an affirmative greeting by one of Ruby's guards. They circled lower and lower, before swooping in for a landing on the soft mud of the delta, their claws making soft _squish_ noises as they made contact with the turf. Sunny took the lead, flanked by Thorn on one side and Tsunami on the other, as they marched up the hill toward Ruby.

They were stopped a wingspan from her.

"That's close enough," said Ruby. Before any of them could speak, she continued, her voice rising in anger.

"Before we begin, may I ask…why is that _thing_ here?" She jabbed a claw at Peril, who glared back at her, smoke rising from her nostrils. Clay stepped protectively in front of Peril to shield her from Ruby (and to keep her from pouncing on the queen in fury).

Sunny sat down, her head held high, tail wrapped around her claws. "Peril requested that we take her along for this expedition, seeing that it involves her adopted mother."

"I thought I told you to bring your friends. Not psychotic killing machines."

"She _is_ a friend," said Sunny, drowning out Peril's barely repressed growls. "I don't know what kind of experiences you've had with her, but while she's been with us Peril has been nothing but kind and courteous. I can assure you, Your Majesty, that Peril's presence will be very helpful for us. She's lived with Scarlet her entire life, and knows her very well. Hunting for Scarlet will be much easier with her along."

Ruby's eyes narrowed, and her guards edged closer, shooting openly hostile looks at Peril. Thorn growled and stepped up beside Sunny.

"Either Peril stays, or we call it off. Your choice, _Your Majesty_." Thorn dipped her head curtly, her tone suggesting anything but respect.

Though she didn't look pleased, Ruby slowly let out a breath and said, "Fine. Just keep her under control at all times."

Tsunami could have sworn the air around her was getting hotter with Peril's temper. The Skywing looked so furious that Tsunami half expected her to burst into flames.

 _And everyone says_ I _have a short fuse,_ she thought with a snort.

"Now then," said Ruby, "I have an idea as to how to catch my elusive mother. For the past months we've been chasing Scarlet and her dragons around the kingdom with little success. Every time we think we've got her cornered, she vanishes from her hideout, and we'd have to spend days tracking her again. It was quite infuriating…but then General Ibex noticed a pattern." She nodded at a crimson Skywing to her right, who quickly rolled out a scroll previously tucked underneath his foreleg.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, his voice rough and low, "this here is a map of the Sky Kingdom. The palace is here, in the center. Each of these X's marks a location of one of Scarlet's hideouts." He pointed to each one in turn, about half a dozen located in a wide circle around the palace. Tsunami and the others nodded in understanding.

"Several weeks ago, we noticed that Scarlet was going back to some of her old haunts, likely to reuse them. Maybe she thought we wouldn't search there again, or maybe she was just too lazy to find a new hideout. Either way, she's been making a circuit of her hideouts, going all the way around." His claw traced the X's in a counter-clockwise direction.

"Scarlet's last known location is here, southwest of the palace. If she's continuing the pattern, then the next place she'll head to once we flush her out will be here," he said, sliding his talon to an X along the Diamond Spray River. "A small cave located up on a mountainside, not far upriver from where we are." He quietly rolled up the scroll and looked to Ruby.

"The hideout is within easy flying distance of the Mud Kingdom, so you wouldn't have to leave the front lines for long," said Ruby. "If the General's prediction holds true, then we know where Scarlet is going to be, and can prepare to ambush her."

"One moment, Your Majesty," said Tsunami, her tail swishing slowly in concentration. "If you know where Scarlet's going to be, and you have the soldiers necessary to hunt her down, then why do you need us? Why can't you just send a flight here to wait while your other troops drive Scarlet out of hiding?"

Ruby nodded, an expression of helplessness on her snout. "A good question, and I'm afraid the answer isn't good. I mentioned before how Scarlet has a habit of vanishing right before we catch her. The first few times I thought we were just too slow. But then it began to happen every time we got anywhere near Scarlet's position. I've had to come to the conclusion that Scarlet has a spy among my soldiers who is feeding her information."

"A spy?" said Peril darkly. "Can't keep your dragons loyal to you, Ruby? I wonder why…"

"Shush, Peril," said Sunny, silencing her with a glare. "Apologies, Your Majesty. Please continue."

Ruby exhaled, her patience with Peril growing visibly short. "I'm working on rooting out the traitor in my ranks. Until then, I'll have to rely on you and your dragons, Sunny. The guards I've brought with me tonight are all loyal," she said, gesturing at the two other Skywings besides her and Ibex, "and I've made no mention of my plans to any other dragons. Hopefully this will ensure Scarlet gets no wind of our trap."

Tsunami and the others looked among themselves. Ruby's plan was sound, if a little unusual. It was risky, but the chance to finally catch Scarlet and end her reign of terror for good was too good to pass up.

"Well?" asked Ruby. "What do you think?"

"We think it's a good idea, Your Majesty," said Sunny. "We'll go through with it."

Ruby's snout lifted into a smile. "Perfect. Here's what we'll do. Tomorrow at noon I'll send my soldiers to flush out Scarlet's lair. A portion of her dragons will stay and fight to buy time while the rest will flee with her to the new hideout. I want you to be waiting at the hideout to spring an ambush on Scarlet when she arrives. She won't have many dragons with her—three or four at most. Her other dragons usually scatter after a while and make their own way to the hideout, so you should be able to overpower her easily enough before her other fighters show up.

"I won't be able to stay in contact with you tomorrow; I need to keep all my dragons with me to ensure none can get word to Scarlet. As such, I trust you to keep to the plan and be there at the right time tomorrow. This is our one chance to catch Scarlet—if we mess this up, I'm afraid she'll evade us forever." She looked each of them in the eye. "Does this sound like something you can handle?"

They all nodded. "And what will we get in return for helping you?" asked Tsunami.

"With Scarlet out of the picture, most of her dragons will either surrender or flee the kingdom. Either way, we'll have crushed her resistance, and the Sky Kingdom will be at peace again. With my rule secure, I'll be able to send my troops to help reinforce the Mudwings and attack along Blister's northern flank. I can promise at least ten flights should we succeed, and probably more if the situation demands it."

Tsunami gasped. " _Ten_ flights? That's—"

"Two hundred and fifty dragons," said Ruby, smirking. "All strong, well-trained, and ready to drive back Blister's Sandwings. We Skywings have always prided ourselves on being a warrior society. Blister will learn just how powerful we can be—the hard way, hopefully."

Tsunami couldn't help the feeling of awe swamping her. Two hundred and fifty dragons? That was nearly half the entire Mudwing army already, and Ruby implied that she had more. And while their limited experiences with Skywings hadn't been pleasant, Tsunami knew that despite their general sourness, the Skywings were powerful warriors. Having them on their side would be immensely helpful.

"And Scarlet?" asked Clay. "What do you want us to do with her once we capture her?"

Ruby's tail swayed languidly, arcing back and forth like a cat's. She gazed off somewhere along the horizon.

"Deal with her however you want to. My mother is dead to me—I don't care what happens to her now, so long as she is out of the picture and unable to harm my tribe. You all have your own scores to settle with her for the things she's done to you." She looked at them, a momentary look of sympathy in her eyes. "I'll let her fate rest in your claws. Consider it a gift, from one ally to another."

It was perfect. They would get to ambush Scarlet and finally make her pay. They would gain a new, powerful ally in the process while eliminating one of the most dangerous dragons in Pyrrhia. Every part of Tsunami wanted to do it.

"Sounds good to me," she said. "What about the rest of you?"

They all answered yes. With a smile, Ruby dipped her head to them.

"May your claws be sharp and your skills sharper," she said. "Remember: tomorrow, at noon, at the hideout upriver of here.

"Swift winds, Dragons of Destiny. I look forward to fighting with you."

* * *

In a small copse of swamp grass not far away, a figure shifted slightly. He laid low, his tan scales blending well with the grass in the dying light, his black, beady eyes trained on the group of dragons in front of him. He was silent, watching and listening as Ruby deliberated with the dragonets. He took in every word, committed them to memory. His queen would want to hear about this.

Suddenly the dragonets, along with their entourage of Outclaws, lifted into the air, circling high into the sky before heading south along the coast. Ruby spoke briefly with one of her Skywings, before they headed out as well, flying almost directly overhead as they winged back towards the palace.

He waited until their wingbeats faded into the distance before loosing a drawn breath. He stood up and shook loose sand from his scales, his muscles aching from lying motionless for so long. Behind him, three other figures also revealed themselves, their scales the same tan color as his.

One of the figures—a small and lithe Sandwing—stepped up to him. "Lieutenant Scarab?"

"Speak, Scorpion."

"What does this mean? First the dragonets ally with the Mudwings. Then they bring Thorn and her Outclaws on board. Now they've gone to Ruby and the Skywings as well." The little Sandwing shook his head.

"Is that a problem?"

"Problem? Well, of course, sir! We're already having enough trouble breaking the Mudwings' defenses. We've lost two flights to the Jade Mountain incident, and we keep losing more every day to Outclaw strikes." The Sandwing was now pacing in front of Scarab, who eyed his comrade with a frown.

"Now the dragonets are going to bring down Scarlet and free the Skywings to attack us. Didn't you hear Ruby? _Ten_ flights, Scarab. That's—"

"Two hundred and fifty dragons. Yes, Scorpion, I can do the math," said Scarab.

"Then what are we going to do, sir? Between the Mudwings, the Skywings, and the Outclaws, we can't fight a combined force that big."

"Are you doubting the Queen of Poison's capabilities?" A vicious glint appeared in Scarab's eyes, and Scorpion quickly scampered back a step.

"N-not at all! I'm confident that Queen Blister will find a way." Scorpion gulped. "But, even so, it's turning into an uphill struggle."

Scarab sniffed. "Which is precisely why the Queen sent us to tail the dragonets. Information like this will save lives, and ensure Her Majesty keeps the upper claw." He smiled. "I think I see a way we can benefit from this already."

"How?"

Scarab gazed at his troops. They were new, the youngest no older than 10. They looked to him with awe, seeing him as a veteran. Internally Scarab scoffed. Compared to some of the _real_ veterans in Blister's army, he was practically a dragonet fresh out of training.

That didn't mean he couldn't see an obvious way to exploit the situation.

"Let's just say that the Queen of Poison has an ace under her wing." He gazed south, toward the edges of the Mud Kingdom.

"And when the time is right, we'll ensure those cursed dragonets don't get the reinforcements they so desperately need."

* * *

 **A/N:** Seems like our favorite dragonets will finally get a chance to face an old foe from their past. I've really been itching to get the story moving to this point, but I kept bogging myself down with stuff in the rainforest and numerous other interludes. It sounds odd for me to say, but now that the dragonets have been kicked out of their rainforest, I feel like the story is finally going somewhere. I'm really excited to keep writing this story, even if it takes me weeks to upload each chapter.

To be honest, I've actually been doing a lot of writing lately. Normally my delays are caused by excessive gaming - I'm as attracted to my Steam library as Clay is to a fat cow - but not this time. The past weeks my free time has been taken up by writing, but it's all on a personal project of mine. It's still early in the works, so I doubt I'll be sharing anything concrete about it. It's not fanfiction, Wings of Fire or otherwise. It's an original story, and I can't say that I'm not excited at the prospect of creating my own story. Again, it's still in its infancy, so I can't share much, as so many details are still undetermined. I _will_ say that it involves dragons - what a surprise, eh? X3

I have to say, I'm proud of how far the story has come so far. It sprang up as a simple "what if" question, and it's shaping up to become quite an impressive story. I'd even say (humble brag) that it might even rival the original five books themselves. ^.^ A stretch, but hey, a young writer can dream.

Well, that's it for this week folks. Tune in next time for the "thrilling" hunt for Scarlet's bejewelled behind. Stay frosty, friends.

~SpicyDog99

 _P.S.: Is it just me, or does Scarlet remind anyone of Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games? I think it's just Scarlet's excessive use of the word "thrilling", I always imagine Effie using that term to describe the Games. And they share some similarities - they're both very vain, and they both love blood sport. Honestly the only real difference between them is that Effie eventually gets redeemed as a character, whereas Scarlet is bad to the bone. And, you know, Scarlet's had half her face melted off. I highly doubt Effie could ever survive anything like that, favored odds notwithstanding._


	17. The Trap is Sprung - Part 1

The Trap is Sprung – Part 1

They set out early the next morning, while the sun still hung low over the Bay of a Thousand scales. Her, Clay, Tsunami, Sunny, and Thorn, with an extra Outclaw named Qibli tagging along. They flew north in a V formation, Sunny and Thorn in the lead, the rest of them arrayed to either side. Silent in the rising day, they focused solely on getting to their appointed destination before noon.

Peril glanced ahead at Qibli, flying directly to Thorn's right, almost brushing her wings with his. He was younger than them by a couple years, yet he carried himself with the air of an older dragon, constantly alert and attentive, scrutinizing everyone with those black, beady eyes of his. His wingbeats were constant, steady, the sunlight to the east catching his amber earring as he bobbed in flight.

She couldn't help but smile in amusement. Originally they weren't planning on taking any other Outclaws with them. Thorn reckoned that a larger group would be more easily detected, and that the five of them were enough to deal with Scarlet and her small personal guard.

But while they were preparing to leave earlier that morning, a little Sandwing stumbled out of the hut he'd been sleeping in and insisted on coming along. The dragonet had a rather heated argument with Thorn, who insisted that he'd be better staying behind and helping the other Outclaws. The dragonet refused to listen, however, and with the sun rapidly climbing the sky, Thorn had finally relented with only a stern warning to be careful.

They'd all stared in bafflement at this dragonet's actions, except for Sunny, who was trying way too hard to stifle her laughter. Curious, Peril had approached her about the dragonet.

"Yeah, I know him," she said, chuckling. "His name's Qibli. I first met him at the Scorpion's Den when I went looking for my mother. No surprise to see he's stuck with her all this way."

Peril shot a glance at Qibli, who was doggedly following Thorn wherever she went. "Is he normally that—"

"Protective?" Sunny bared a fang in a smile, her green eyes twinkling. "You could say that."

"You think it's smart to bring him along?"

"Tch." Sunny waved a claw dismissively. "It'd be dumb not to. He's a great fighter for his age, and very good at reading a situation. Honestly I think mother is just tired of him."

"Well, he is sticking to her like a second tail…"

Sunny laughed. "That is true."

Looking at him now, Peril couldn't help feeling nervous for the Outclaw. This was no dragonet's game they were getting into; Scarlet was as deadly as she was cunning, and her brush with Glory's venom had done nothing to change that. As much as she wished she could have faith in Qibli's talents, Peril couldn't stop herself from thinking that he was biting off more than he could handle.

 _And you, Peril?_ She thought to herself. _Aren't you doing the same?_

She would never tell Clay about it, but Scarlet still dogged Peril's nightmares with disturbing regularity. The dreams varied, but they all came back to the same thing—Peril trying in vain to stumble away from Scarlet's clutches, only to find herself standing over the body of a dragon, body burnt by her claws. Scarlet, swooping around, would whisper that Peril was her weapon, her champion, forever and always.

 _Face it, my daughter of fire,_ she'd say, her half-melted face distorting her cruel words. _There is no other place for you in Pyrrhia. You were made to kill. Stop running from you destiny._

 _Stop hiding from your true self._

Peril would always startle awake at this point, pulse hammering, a silent scream dying in her throat. Scarlet hadn't dreamvisited Peril in a while, though that really didn't matter. Scarlet didn't need to, not when Peril's own inner anguish could cause her so much pain.

 _No more,_ Peril thought firmly. _It will end today, one way or another. Then, I'm a free dragon._  
Her gaze shifted to Clay, flying to her left. He caught her eyes, warm brown meeting stark blue. He nodded in assurance.

"We're with you, Peril," he said, voice barely a whisper over the wind whipping around them. "We'll be with you, every flap of the way."

She managed a smile in return. She was glad now that she let him come along. His presence was a great bulwark shoring her up, giving her the courage to keep flying towards the one dragon she never wished to see again.

 _One flap at a time. Every flap of the way._ She inhaled, exhaled. _You can do this, Peril. You will confront your final demon._

The sun rose from the bay, climbing up towards its zenith. About an hour before noon Sunny called back to them.

"We're almost to the delta," she yelled over the wind. "Once we reach it we'll follow the river northwest. Sound good?"

With affirmative nods they continued forward. The sandy beach beneath them changed once more to a marshy swampland. Sunny tilted her wings and headed up the delta, where the web of tendril-like tributaries converged into a large, broad river, its current slow and meandering, brown as the mud lining its shores. They followed Sunny up the river, scanning the approaching mountainsides on either side for any hints of the hideout Ibex had mentioned yesterday.

"Did Ruby say what the hideout looks like?" said Tsunami, flying to Peril's right. "Any landmarks, maybe? These mountains all look identical to me."

Sunny shook her head. "Only that it was by the river, and up on a mountainside. With luck, we should be able to find it as long as we follow the river."

She heard Tsunami snort. "How wonderfully vague. We should've asked for better instructions."

"We'll be fine," said Peril. "I know these mountains."

The Seawing gave her a skeptical look. "Do you? I thought Scarlet had you cooped up in the palace all day."

Peril wrinkled her snout. "Scarlet _tried_. I managed to sneak out whenever she didn't have anything pressing for me to do." She turned away, her eyes scanning the sharp ridges and horned backs of the peaks around her. "Firescales or not, I'm still a Skywing. These mountains are—well, were—my home. I know my way around."

A small part of her desperately wondered if, sometime in the distant future, she could ever return to the Sky Kingdom. Her memories of this mountainous land would be forever tainted by Scarlet, tainted by memories of the things she'd been forced to do under her tyrannical adopted mother's command. Still, she couldn't say that she hated the Claws of the Clouds. They were majestic, wild, dominating central Pyrrhia from north to south. These snowbound peaks called to her, sung to her with their raw beauty and unfettered freedom. She wanted nothing more than to return to these mountains one day and finally call them _home_.

Peril shook herself from her daydreaming. She knew better than to hope for something that could never be.

"Well, alright," said Tsunami. "Give us a holler when you see the hideout."

And so they began scanning the ridgelines for any sign of a cave large enough to house an angry former queen and her entourage. It wasn't long before Peril spotted something glimmering on a mountainside to the group's left.

"There! A cave, on the north slope of that peak." She gestured at a mountain of dark rock, pointing to a shelf jutting two-thirds of the way up the summit. The entrance was partially hidden by a few stunted trees and bushes. "Has a good view of the river, and of patrols coming from the north. That has to be Scarlet's hideout."

"You sure?" said Tsunami. "We've passed a good number of caves that look the same as this one."

Peril sniffed. Tsunami's skepticism was understandable, but Peril knew without a doubt that Scarlet had inhabited this cave.

"C'mon," she said to the others, banking towards the cave. "I'll show you."

Leading the way, she pulled her wings in flush against her body, rocketing down towards the cave, before snapping her wings out and coming to halt on the rocky shelf. She moved forward into the mouth of the cave, allowing the others to pile onto the shelf behind her.

"I saw something shining against the sunlight while we passed the cave," Peril said by way of explanation. "Whatever it is, it's got to be around here somewhere…" She proceeded into the cave, before her eyes alit on something swept to the side of the cave wall.

She reached out a claw and scooped out the object. It was an ornate necklace, heavy with golden chains, set with numerous jewels: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and more, all of varying size and cut. A priceless treasure, befitting a queen.

She turned to the others, a smile on her snout.

"Scarlet is a cunning dragon—up until the point that she isn't. And that point is when she gets too vain to let go of her shiny trinkets," she said, handing the necklace over for them to inspect.

"She took her _treasures_ with her?" said Thorn. "When she was on the run from her own daughter? Huh. She's as bad as Blaze."

Clay whistled. "This is some valuable stuff. I doubt even Tsunami got anything like this from her mother."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" said Tsunami, frill ruffled in indignation.

"Well, I'm just saying," he said, backing away from Tsunami's glare. "I think this beats that pearl necklace your mother gave you. I mean it's gold and all. And it has, uh, how many jewels in it?" He began counting, but soon gave up.

"Unbelievable," Tsunami retorted, turning her nose away and shutting her eyes in mock disgust. "You guys have no taste in jewelry."

"Moving on," said Sunny. "We aren't here to gawk at Scarlet's trinkets, we're here to stop her once and for all. Peril, are you sure that this is Scarlet's hideout?"

Peril nodded. "If that necklace isn't proof enough, then nothing is."

"Alright, then. We need to set up and be ready to ambush Scarlet once she gets here. Any ideas, mother?" She turned to Thorn, who was scanning the surrounding area, a frown on her snout.

"Well, I'll say it right now, there's no way we can set up on this side of the peak," she said. "There's no cover here at all, just open rock. Unless we stay on the opposite side of the mountain, we'll get spotted instantly if we stay here."

Sunny shook her head. "We need to know when Scarlet gets here, and we can't do that if we're parked on the wrong side of the mountain."

"How about the other side of the gorge?" said Qibli, piping up for the first time. He motioned to a distant ridgeline that ran up and down the river. "There's some tree cover there. Maybe we could hide there, wait until we see Scarlet enter the cave, and then ambush her."

"It might work," said Thorn, "but it's a bit far. I don't like all the open air we have to cross to get to the cave—if Scarlet has a sentry out here, he can alert her, and be out before we can reach her. Then she can lose us easily in these mountains."

"What other choice do we have?" said Tsunami. "Either we give Scarlet a head start, or we blind ourselves to her approach. Neither sounds very good to me."

Thorn didn't respond.

"Wait," said Peril, "what if we did both?"

They all looked at her. "What do you mean, both?" said Tsunami.

"We have a dragon stay on that ridgeline," she said, pointing in the distance. "The rest of us will stay here, on the other side of the peak but in view of the ridge. When Scarlet comes and enters the cave, the dragon will signal us, and we'll all circle around the peak and pounce on her. Simple." A rare note of glee touched her voice. Her scales weren't the only deadly weapons she possessed.

"That…actually sounds like a good plan," said Clay. "But how will we signal each other?"

"With _that_." She pointed at the necklace in Clay's claws. "If it's shiny enough to catch the light from inside the cave, then it should do just fine for our purposes."

A feral grin spread across Thorn's muzzle. "I like it. Scarlet won't know what hit her. So, who's going to the ridge?"

They looked at each other, each silently passing on the role. Eventually, their gazes fell on Qibli, who looked exasperated.

"Me?"

"Is there any other Qibli here?" said Thorn.

"But…but the fighting's here!" He scrambled to his claws, tail twitching. "If I'm on the ridge, I can't help you fight, Thorn."

"You also won't get hurt. Which I think is more important."

Peril could practically see the cogs whirling in Qibli's head. "What about Sunny? Can't she do it?"

"I can fend for myself," she replied, cocking her head. "Or do you not believe me?"

Qibli growled, frustrated. "Clay then. He's injured."

"No," said Clay and Peril simultaneously. They spared each other a glance, before Clay said, "I need to be here with Peril for this. It's important to her."

"Come on, Qibli," said Sunny, "You'll still be part of the group. In fact, you'll have a crucial role in this. Our whole plan hedges on you. Surely it's something an Outclaw can handle, right?"

Qibli's nose twitched. His expression changed from peeved to one of grudging acceptance.

"Fine. Gimme that." He grabbed the necklace from Clay. "What kind of signal do you want?"

"Shine the emerald," said Peril, pointing to a large, green gem set in the middle of the necklace. "We'll see it easily, but Scarlet's sentries might assume it's just a piece of shiny foliage."

With the plan agreed on, Qibli took off from the cliff shelf, his tan form dwindling into the distance, before ducking down behind the trees. The rest of them swept around the side of the mountain, coming to a stop on the southwestern side of the slope—within sight of Qibli, but out of sight of Scarlet, assuming she came from the west or north. Then, they waited in silence, listening for the sound of approaching wingbeats, watching for Qibli's signal. Claws tapped nervously on rock, broken by the occasional slither of pebbles. Wind whistled through the mountains, echoing through the peaks like souls of fallen warriors. The crouched in anticipation, muscles drawn tight, breathing shallow.

 _Calm, Peril,_ she thought, trying to still her hammering heart. _Stay calm. It'll be over soon._ Unconsciously she wrapped her tail around Clay's. He squeezed hers, and the contact eased her tension.

Suddenly she heard it: wingbeats, quiet but approaching rapidly from the east. She closed her eyes, concentrating. There—the characteristic "ripple" of Skywing flight, caused by their large, flexible wings as they pushed through the air. Then, Peril heard a distinctive voice cutting through to her ears.

"…don't care about…excuses, Lieutenant. This…outrage…fled a dozen times already. How much longer…catch us?"

A deluge of memories threatened to swamp Peril. With a shuddering breath she vehemently shoved all of them out of her mind. She was Peril, daughter of Kestrel, a Skywing and a firescales. She would not let Scarlet scare her.

The voices approached, Scarlet continuing to scold her guard, presumably for getting their cover blown again. Her shrill, biting voice became distorted, echoed. _She must have entered the cave. Where's Qibli's signal?_

She scanned the far ridge for a bright sparkle of green, but none came. Nervously she paced in place, her claws scratching on the stone.

A flash. Something shone across the way. Something green.

Ahead of them, Thorn whipped her head around and mouthed, "Quietly." She shoved from the stones, her wings beating the air as silently as she could manage while keeping herself aloft. The rest of them followed Thorn into the air, falling into a V formation behind her. They rounded the peak, quickly coming into sight of the shelf, where a single Skywing stood as sentry. He cocked his head, hearing something, before turning to see nearly half a dozen dragons bearing down on him. His eyes bulged.

"Dragons! Incom—"

His alert cut off into strangled gasp as Thorn slammed full-speed into him, the two of them rolling across the ground in a fury of snarls and swiping claws. They touched down, Sunny loping after her mother, while the rest turned to face Scarlet, who stood in the mouth of the cave flanked by two other Skywings.

"You! The dragonets!" The former queen's snout twisted into a mask of fear, shock, and disgust. "What in the name of the moons…"

"Hello, Scarlet," said Peril, voice level. With a twitch of her tail, she signaled the others forward. "Get her."

With a roar Tsunami leapt forward, bowling into Scarlet before the orange dragon could react. Her guards fell on Tsunami, trying to keep her back, but the ferocious Seawing had become a blur of teeth and claws already, pushing Scarlet back into cave with a flurry of blows and attacks. Clay plunged in after Tsunami, ramming his shoulder into the larger of Scarlet's guards, throwing him off balance and pushing him into the wall of the cave, away from Tsunami.

Screams and shouts filled the air, followed by the scent of fear and blood as Scarlet's dragons retaliated. They reminded Peril of the arena—and she promptly pushed away those memories too as soon as they came.

 _Focus. Defend Tsunami._

One of Scarlet's guards still chased after Tsunami, a little Skywing who looked no older than a dragonet, doing his best to pry Tsunami from Scarlet. With a glance at Clay, then outside at Thorn and Sunny, Peril broke into a run at the remaining guard. Summoning her fire, she directed a jet at the little dragon, who broke away from Tsunami to confront this new threat.

The Skywing growled, whipping to face her. Battle lust filled his eyes, and before Peril could dodge him he lunged at her.

"No, wait—"

Their bodies collided with a heavy _thump_ , followed quickly by the sizzling of burning scales. With a panicked scream the Skywing tore away from Peril, whimpering in agony as the pads of his claws smoldered, the scales already singed dark brown in the brief contact. He backed away limping, casting a bewildered look at Peril, when sudden recognition dawned in his eyes.

"It…it can't be. You're Scarlet's champion!"

"Was," Peril immediately corrected. She proceeded forward, hoping to intimidate the young dragon into fleeing. "Tell Scarlet to surrender."

"S-surrender?" He looked like he was about to lash out, but backed away instead as Peril stepped forward. "What do you want with Her Majesty?"

"We have business to settle with her." She fanned her massive wings out, blocking the guard from Tsunami and Scarlet, keeping him from dodging his way around her. "She is the only dragon we need. Tell her and the others to surrender, and we'll spare you and your comrades."

She'd almost pressed him out the entrance of the cave. Outside, Clay had wrestled the bigger Skywing to the ground, though he seemed to have trouble keeping the bucking, writhing guard down. Past them, near the edge of the rock shelf, Thorn and Sunny cornered the sentry, who looked ready to abandon his post and flee for his life. Peril's opponent had likewise scanned the scene, and fear trickled into his eyes.

 _Don't make me kill you,_ she pleaded silently.

But before either she or her opponent could react, a roar of pure rage sounded from within the cave. Startled, Peril spun to see Tsunami get thrown out the entrance of the cave, landing with heavy crunch near Peril. The Seawing's eyes were shut tight in pain as she stumbled to her claws, a large gash down her side, wings mangled and torn in the hard landing. Across from her stood Scarlet, sides heaving, a wild look in her eyes. She stepped forward, bloodied claws leaving imprints on the stone, as her grotesque face twisted into a malicious sneer.

"You think you can best _me_ , Seawing? Me, Queen Scarlet, ruler of the Skywings?" She spat a glob of blood and loose teeth out to one side. "Think again. You and your fellow _dragonets_ are no match for me."

"You monster!" screamed Tsunami. "Hundreds of dragons have died because of you. I won't rest until you get what you deserve."

Scarlet cackled. "Fools. I've killed hundreds of dragons, and I'll kill hundreds more to get back my rightful throne." She feinted forward, and Tsunami sprang back a step, now hesitant to tackle the rage-filled queen.

"Get them, you useless dragons!" shouted Scarlet to her guards. "They're only dragonets. They're no match for you!"

"We are not dragonets," said Peril, sweeping forward toward Scarlet. She couldn't help the feeling of pleasure she got seeing her former queen shy away from her. "We are the Dragons of Destiny. We've come to confront you one last time, and put you down for good."

"You? Confront me?" Scarlet hissed. "You don't have the guts, Peril. You're a weapon, a tool, nothing more. _My_ weapon, you hear me?"

They were more or less the same words Peril heard in her nightmares. And yet, hearing them now from the queen, seeing her shaking, bloodied self in the bright of day, Peril felt none of the fear she'd felt in her dreams. Only a resolute calm, and the determination to see Scarlet humbled.

She stepped forward slowly, deliberately.

"No, Scarlet. You are wrong. I am not a tool, a weapon for merciless dragons like you to use as you please. I am not your "champion". Not anymore. Do you know what I am now, Scarlet? Do you have even the faintest inkling in that dark heart of yours?"

Scarlet opened her mouth to retort, but Peril pushed onwards.

"I am a dragon. I am a Skywing, as proud and powerful a warrior as any of yours. I know honor. I know loyalty. I did bad things in my past, but now, I work toward making myself a better dragon than I was before."

"No," said Scarlet as Peril approached. "No, stay away—"

"I fight for freedom now. I fight to free Pyrrhia of dragons like you: the cowardly, the honorless, those who manipulate and kill to keep themselves on top. I fight for all true dragons of this land, for the wings of fire that bear us aloft."

Scarlet pressed against the slope of the mountain, eyes wide in fear, as Peril stepped up to her, scales shimmering with brilliant heat.

"I am Peril. And from this day forth, I am FREE of you, Scarlet."

Peril panted, throat sore; she realized belatedly that she'd been shouting at the top of her lungs. The fighting around her had quieted, Scarlet's guards subdued by her outburst, awed even. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Clay, Tsunami, Sunny, and Thorn approach, flanking her protectively.

"Your days are done, mother. Do you have any last words?"

Scarlet's face was blank, as if she couldn't believe what she was witnessing with her own eyes. Peril reveled in her shock—until she realized the former queen was gazing at something past her.

"I don't," said Scarlet, a twitch of a grin revealing a fang, "but _she_ certainly does."

Eyes wide, Peril and the other whipped around, only to be buffeted by a draft from numerous wings. Opening her eyes, Peril saw a trio of Sandwings standing before her.

Her eyes trailed up the body of the lead Sandwing. Tan scales. Black diamonds running down her back. Cold, confident eyes, black as tar.

"Oh yes," said Blister, slithering a forked tongue between her fangs. "I do have some words to say."


	18. The Trap is Sprung - Part 2

The Trap is Sprung – Part 2

"Blister!"

Blister turned a mocking glare on Peril. "Scarlet's champion," she spat back.

Peril's voice died in her throat at the cutting remark.

"What are you doing here?" growled Thorn, opening her wings a fraction, muzzle pulled back into a threatening snarl.

"What am I doing here?" Blister inspected her talons nonchalantly. "Why, I am the Queen of Poison, rightful ruler of Pyrrhia. Why can't I go where I please, do what I want?" She flicked something from her talon, turning her gaze back on them. "You are the ones trespassing. What are you doing here, in the Claws of the Clouds? Why have you ambushed Queen Scarlet?"

"It's none of your business," said Tsunami.

"It certainly is. Everything that happens in Pyrrhia now concerns me."

Tsunami growled, and looked ready to leap at Blister, when Sunny reached up and placed a claw on her shoulder, a look of warning in her green eyes. Puzzled, Tsunami stepped back as Sunny raised her head to speak.

"We are here to confront Scarlet for all the things that she's done to us. That is all you need to know."

Blister purred, a smug look on her face. The two Sandwings behind her—elite guards, Peril assumed—crouched in readiness.

"Revenge, is it? How surprisingly low, _Dragonets_ of Destiny. With all your talk of freedom and equality, of peace and friendship, I thought you were above such base pursuits."

"It's our decision, Blister." Sunny's voice had acquired such a cold, steely edge that Peril did a double take. "We don't answer to you. State your reason for being here, or leave."

"As if you could make me," Blister said with a huff. "But I'll humor you. Believe it or not, I'm here to offer a trade."

Peril's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"A trade?" Blister cocked an eyebrow. "You know? When one dragon has something another needs, and vice versa? And they swap possessions for the benefit of both? Is that too complicated a concept for you?"

"We heard you," said Sunny. "What is it your asking for?"

Tsunami whirled on Sunny. "Sunny, you aren't seriously considering—"

"Just go with it, Tsunami."

"But it's Blister! We can't trust anything she—"

"Would you please SHUT UP for once, Tsunami." Sunny glared at Tsunami, who backed away in surprise. "The sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can get back to dealing with Scarlet. OK?"

Peril chanced a look behind her. Scarlet still hadn't moved from her spot, despite having no one blocking her. The former queen now bore an expression of fascination—at what, Peril couldn't guess.

"Well, Blister?" Sunny snapped her jaws in agitation. "What's your offer?"

A sly look entered Blister's eyes. Dread filled Peril's stomach.

"I offer Scarlet's life for the lives your friends."

A silent signal from Blister, and she and her guards stepped to the side. Peril gasped. Standing before them were Qibli, Starflight, and Fatespeaker. Starflight crouched in front, eyes covered in a blindfold, head pointed in their direction. Fatespeaker lay next to him, eyes wide, hopeful at seeing her friends once more. On Starflight's other side lay Qibli—bruised, bloodied, and with his tail barb missing.

 _Three moons! What did they do to him?_

"Qibli!" shouted Thorn. The listless Outclaw didn't respond, whimpering and yowling in pain, the bloody stump of his tail leaving fresh trails on the rock. Thorn roared, "What did you worms do to him?!"

"Such foul language," said Blister disdainfully, lifting her snout haughtily. "He was being too troublesome, so my guards decided to…oh, what's the word…pacify him." She nodded in approval. "Yes. A dragonet as young as him should not be taught to use his tail barb in such a violent manner. It's unseemly."

"You piece of—"

"I would watch your language, if I were you. Such vocabulary should not be used around royalty."

"What do I care, you filthy snake? I ought to flail you alive!"

Blister leveled her black orbs at Thorn. The two Sandwings stared each other down—one practically shaking with rage, the other cool and collected.

"Thorn, if you truly care about the welfare of those you love, you would listen to what I'm about say." With another silent signal, she and her guards moved menacingly over the prone forms of Qibli, Starflight, and Fatespeaker. Casually, almost carelessly, the three Sandwings lay their barbs across the necks of all three dragonets. Fatespeaker wailed in fear, eyes scrunched shut, while Qibli looked up, confused and in pain. Starflight stood stock-still.

"Hand Scarlet too me, and you will get your friends back. Refuse, and they all die."

Silence. Breathless, Peril looked to the others. Clay looked unspeakably sad, while Tsunami crouched, breathing ragged, barely keeping herself from exploding forward. Thorn's anger had faded, replaced with rare panic. Sunny sat still, though Peril could clearly see terror in her eyes.

"Release them," Sunny whispered. She inhaled and shouted, "Release them now!"

Blister cocked her head. She pushed her barb closer to Starflight's neck.

"They've done nothing to you, Blister. They don't deserve this. Just let them go.

Blister stayed silent. The barb edged closer to Starflight's jugular.

"Please." Sunny's voice fell. Tears glimmered, barely held back, in her eyes "I…we'll do anything you ask. Just please don't hurt them…"

There was a pause. Peril heard nothing but the wind howling against the mountain, and the occasional whimper from Fatespeaker.

"Begging," said Blister at length. "The mighty Dragonets of Destiny have been reduced to _begging_. How pathetic. Give me Scarlet, and they live. Refuse, they die. I am not going to ask again."

Peril's scales burned. Her rage, unabated, demanded an outlet. Blister, Scarlet, they were all the same—toying with the weak, abusing innocent dragons. She wanted to leap out there and dig every inch of herself into that conniving Sandwing, watch her scream in agony as her scales turned to ash. This powerlessness…Peril couldn't stand it. She was _free_ , by the moons. She shouldn't be at the mercy of monsters like these.

But one look at that poisonous barb, so close to ending the lives of three of her friends, and Peril knew that, firescales or not, there was nothing she could do to stop Blister.

 _You're a weapon, a tool, nothing more._

"C'mon," came Sunny's weak, wavering voice. She moved aside. "Let Scarlet through."

"Sunny—"

" _Now_."

As if she were in a trance, Peril saw herself move her claws, move to the side of the rock shelf. She saw Tsunami, Clay, and Thorn do the same, similar looks of dejection on their faces. An open path now stood between Scarlet and Blister.

Scarlet gazed at Blister with a mix of wonder and suspicion. Slowly she edged herself forward.

"What is this?" said Scarlet. "My former enemy, now coming to my rescue?"

Blister laughed. "Enemy? Please, Scarlet, don't tell me you still harbor ill will toward me? The War of the Sandwing Succession is over. I've killed my sisters. Without Burn at your side, I have no reason to harm you or your dragons. All of that is behind us now."

Scarlet snorted. "It's been barely a month since the end of the war. Forgive me if I'm still a bit hesitant to trust a dragon who's fought me for twenty years."

"Do you still have reason to distrust me?" Blister opened a wing toward Scarlet, as if reaching out to touch her. "I've come, of my own free will, to rescue you in your time of need, and you still doubt me?"

"Puh. My guards and I were doing just fine."

"Hmmm. Your bloodied scales tell a different story. Have you gotten sloppy, Scarlet? Were these dragonets actually giving you trouble? Tsk, tsk, I thought you were better than this."

Scarlet slid her tongue along the melted portion of her jaw, ignoring the jab. "I'm in the process of reclaiming my throne from my idiot of a daughter. If I leave now, she'll have the Sky Kingdom all for herself. What do I get by joining you?"

Blister closed her wing. "Protection, from your daughter's forces. The aid of the Sandwings and the Icewings. Help me finish this war against these dragonets, and I can guarantee that you will get your throne back."

"On what grounds?"

Blister spread her claws. "Why, the whole continent will be ours! In fact, you could probably have your throne back _before_ we defeat all the other queens. Moorhen is being difficult, and I still need to flush Coral out of whatever undersea trench she's hidden herself in. But your daughter? She's young, inexperienced. With your rebels fighting alongside my dragons, she'd never stand a chance."

Scarlet paused, temptation flitting across her face.

"And if I refuse?"

Blister shrugged. "You get to deal with these five yourself. Oh, and did I mention that Ruby is coming quickly?" She moved aside, revealing dozens of red shapes winging toward them quickly.

"Yeah," said Blister, shaking her head. "I don't fancy your odds against a force that large."

Scarlet blanched, whatever remaining resistance crumbling in the face of imminent danger. "I'll join you. Me and all my dragons."

"Perfect," drawled Blister. "Gather your dragons, and let's be off, before your daughter gets here."

With a barked command, Scarlet ordered her battered dragons around her, then lifted into the sky, circling above them. The dragonet Peril had been fighting spared her a cocky glance, before turning to follow his queen into the air.

"Let it not be said, dragonets, that I'm not a dragon of my word," said Blister, removing her tail from Starflight's neck. Her guards copied her action.

"Your friends are free now. I'd suggest looking after them a bit better in the future—I'm not known to show mercy twice." With that she flared her wings and leapt off the rock shelf, her guards following behind. She looped back around and, as she swooped overhead, shouted, "Fair winds, dragonets. I'd wish you good luck, but at this point, no amount of it is going to save you."

With that, Scarlet and Blister vanished into the mountains, making a quick getaway towards the south, where Blister's army lay. Peril let out a pent up breath.

 _Just when we thought we'd cornered Scarlet…_

The others had rushed forward to where Qibli, Starflight, and Fatespeaker lay. Peril could hear their concerned voices as they fussed about them, their loss of Scarlet momentarily forgotten in their reunion with their captive friends. Thorn, in particular, was busy inspecting Qibli's tail, licking the wound tenderly like a mother dragon over her hatchling, while Sunny did her best to console the Outclaw, who was still in great pain.

Just when Peril thought things couldn't get any worse, a roar sounded through the air. Peril saw several dragons break off from Ruby's entourage, presumably to pursue Scarlet and Blister, though Peril didn't know how they could find them when they'd already disappeared into the valleys and canyons beyond. Meanwhile, Ruby's bright-red form plummeted toward them, landing shortly with a loud screech of talons on rock, her face a mess of disbelief and rage.

"What in the name of the moons are you thinking? Why did you just let Scarlet _go_?!"

"Ruby, hold on a sec—"

"Get away from me, monster." Ruby skittered away, baring her teeth. "Is this your doing? Were you secretly conspiring to help my mother escape capture? Well? Answer me!"

"Your Majesty, please, we can explain," said Sunny, pushing to her claws and approaching them, head lowered in humility.

Smoke poured from Ruby's nostrils. "Oh yes. Do explain why you let one of the most dangerous dragons in Pyrrhia waltz out of here with Blister."

"We ambushed Scarlet, just as you asked. Just when we had her cornered, Blister swooped in out of nowhere with three of our friends. She ordered us to either give her Scarlet, or watch them die." Sunny panted, bowing her head. She looked on the verge of breaking down. "I…I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but you must understand. I couldn't sacrifice my friends' lives just to kill Scarlet."

Ruby fumed, claws raking at the rock with a discordant _screech_. Slowly, with apparent difficulty, the Skywing queen managed to calm her breathing and not exhale so much smoke.

"Well, none of it matters now. My mother has escaped—I'll keep my dragons combing the mountains for now, but I doubt we'll find her any time soon. She'll join forces with Blister, her and her loyal rebels, and she'll cause moons know how much havoc here in the Sky Kingdom, and elsewhere."

"We're really sorry," said Peril, "if we'd been faster, or—"

"Save it," said Ruby, holding a claw up to stop Peril. "I don't need your apologies. With Scarlet still on the loose, I can no longer promise the forces that we'd agreed earlier."

Sunny's eyes widened. "Ruby, without your dragons—"

"You'll just have to get along without my help, Sunny." Ruby rubbed a claw down her snout, eyes shut in frustration. "I can't send soldiers to help when my own dragons are still under threat from Scarlet."

"But Scarlet isn't in the Sky Kingdom anymore," Peril blurted. "She and her dragons have gone with Blister to the rainforest, or what's left of it. They can't do as much damage when they're not actually in your kingdom."

Surprisingly, Peril saw Ruby considering her words.

"That is true. Though that's in no way saying that Scarlet won't be a threat. I know she will be; it's only a matter of time before strikes again." She blew out a heavy breath. "Tell you what. I'll do what I can to help from here in the Sky Kingdom, maybe put some pressure on Blister's northern flank. If I can maybe spare a handful of troops, I'll send them your way. Otherwise…" She held up her claws in a gesture of helplessness.

"You'll just have to fend for yourselves. I'm sorry," she said with a note of finality. "But this is the way things must be."

Ruby turned away, wings flared for flight.

"Take care, dragons," she said. "And good luck. Moons above, we're all going to need it."

As Ruby rejoined her dragons, and they veered away back toward the palace, Sunny turned to Peril, panic clear in her eyes.

"Peril…Ruby was our lifeline. What do we do now?"

Peril swept her gaze over the Claws of the Clouds. The air against her fiery scales felt as cold as the ice-capped summits around her.

"I don't know."

* * *

 **A/N:** What is this? _Two_ chapters in one day? Who are you and what have you done with the real SpicyDog?

Actually, it's more like one and a half. I was originally going to do the ambush all in one chapter, but once again my muse went its own way, and before I knew it was approaching 7 pages when Blister showed up. I didn't want to leave you guys on such a cruel cliffhanger, nor did I want a monstrous 10+ page chapter, so I decided to simply put the second half of the ambush chapter in its own chapter and upload the two together.

So yeah, the ambush...not as smooth as our dragonets wished it was. This chapter was actually going to be rather different; going by my old outline that I drew up earlier in the summer, the five of them would have gone to the Sky Kingdom, ambushed Scarlet, and just killed her on the spot. Ruby would be pleased, Scarlet would be out of the picture, and the dragonets would have help so they wouldn't be constantly roflstomped by Blister. But things changed when I decided to leave Starflight and Fatespeaker in the rainforest - originally they would have escaped with the others, but I couldn't find a way to justify that without making it seem like Star and Fate were abandoning the Nightwings, which I don't feel they would do.

Of course, this presented the problem of getting the two reunited with the gang. Eventually I saw that this ambush would be the perfect opportunity for Starflight and Fatespeaker to return to their friends, while simultaneously letting Blister one-up the dragonets again. It may seem harsh, but this is the way I see Blister: an cruel, manipulative dragon, but brilliantly cunning in her own way. In my opinion it helps make her a deeper, yet cooler, villain. Now, this obviously means Scarlet isn't dead. She'll be alive and kicking for now, and will definitely give Ruby and the dragonets a headache in the near future. Will justice ever catch up to Scarlet? You'll just have to wait to find out. ;)

Anyway, that's long enough of an author's note for this chapter. Things are looking bleak now...but, well, no one said fighting a war against Blister would be easy. If only there was another dragon tribe the dragonets could go to... :P

~SpicyDog99


	19. Days of War

Days of War

When Starflight had been awoken early that morning by the loud tromping of Blister's guards approaching his and Fatespeaker's cell, he thought it was the end. Blister had come to finish him off, for failing to convince his friends to choose her for Sandwing queen. With a sickening feeling in his gut, Starflight thought that he would die, far from the friends he'd grown up with, surrounded by the remnants of a tribe that refused to acknowledge him as one of their own.

So it was a surprise when, after being led outside the cage, Starflight felt one of the guards remove the binds on his wings, allowing him to slowly and painstakingly stretch his cramped muscles. Before he could speak or otherwise react, the gruff voice of one of the guards ordered him and Fatespeaker to come with them. Blister wished to see them.

They'd led him and Fatespeaker through the quiet camp to the edge, where Blister and a small entourage of guards awaited them. There, she'd informed him, rather cryptically, that he was about to meet his friends again and possibly return to them, if things went well. Heart stirred by the hope of reuniting with his friends, yet suspicious of Blister's motive, Starflight had asked why she was suddenly being so generous to him. Blister had laughed.

"You'll see. Come, we must be off."

They flew for hours, it seemed—north, as far as Starflight could tell, the rising sun warming his right side. Fatespeaker flew to his left, her wingtip brushing his at even intervals, keeping him on course and comforting his frayed nerves. She never spoke, simply acted as his steadfast emotional bulwark. Starflight thanked whatever dragon deities there were for her presence; she'd kept him going through all that had happened to them so far.

At long last, when the sun's heat moved to Starflight's back, the group landed on a windblown, rocky ledge. They were somewhere in the Claws of the Clouds, as far as he could tell—he heard nothing but the wind whistling past distant mountain peaks, or the occasional low groan of monoliths shifting with slight tremors.

"This is the spot, Lieutenant?" said Blister.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Good."

Confused, Starflight turned to Fatespeaker. "What's happening, Fate?" he whispered.

"I don't know," came her quiet response.

They'd been waiting for a while before Starflight heard the distant sound of wingbeats. Half a dozen dragons, as far as he could tell, coming in from the south. He heard distant voices, tried in vain to recognize any. Head cocked, he listened on.

Eventually one set of wings came winging their direction—the others left, going somewhere else. Blister spoke up once more, her voice also quiet.

"That dragonet. One of Thorn's Outclaws?"

"Yes, it seems."

He sensed Blister's nod. "Wait for _her_ to come, then grab that dragonet. He can be an extra bargaining chip."

It wasn't long before Starflight heard more wingbeats and voices, these coming from the west. One voice stood out above the rest, and his blood froze.

"Star? What is it?" said Fatespeaker.

"Scarlet," was all he dared whisper.

One of Blister's guards departed quietly. Then, suddenly, the ethereal silence of the Claws was broken by roars, by the clash of claws against scales. He heard Scarlet's shrill voice, heard another voice bellow back in response to Scarlet's words. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of returning wingbeats, and the agonized cries of a dragonet. Beside him, he felt Fatespeaker stiffen.

"They have a dragonet," she said. "A Sandwing. Three moons, they've ripped off his barb!"

"Quiet," Blister calmly ordered. "Come. It's time to meet your friends."

After that…everything was a blur. They'd crossed a short gap of air, heading toward the commotion of fighting. They'd landed, and Starflight recognized the voices—Clay, Tsunami, and Sunny, along with Thorn and Peril. His friends, actually there in the flesh!

But Starflight's joy was brought to a swift end when he felt Blister's poisoned barb slide across the scales of his neck. Trembling with fear, he and Fatespeaker heard Blister proclaim her ultimatum: release Scarlet to her, or watch him, Fatespeaker, and the Sandwing dragonet die. At a loss of what to do, Starflight had no choice but sit there, paralyzed, like he always did when he was terrified, although Blister's barb gave him little room to move anyway. He listened, heart sinking into his stomach, as Sunny, begging and crying, had no choice but to relinquish Scarlet, unwilling to watch him die. He yearned to comfort Sunny, but knew there was nothing he could do. He, Starflight, son of one of the smartest dragons in Pyrrhia, was just another pawn in a queen's game of power.

He heard Blister entice Scarlet to her side, heard Scarlet proclaim a hasty alliance, and then she and Blister were gone, winging off into the distance. His friends crowded around him, their warm voices soothing him. For a moment he felt nothing but relief. The long nightmare that had begun with the attack on the rainforest had finally ended; he was back with his friends.

And now they were heading south to the Mud Kingdom, where his friends had run when Blister razed the rainforest. The Sandwing dragonet, who was named Qibli, was being carried by Thorn and Tsunami, as he was still in no shape to fly. As they flew, Sunny filled him and Fatespeaker in on everything that had happened: their flight to the Mud Kingdom, the deal with Ruby, their planned ambush for Scarlet. Sunny had arranged most of it herself, and despite the failure of the mission Starflight couldn't help admiring his friend for her unstoppable drive and tenacity.

"So…yeah," Sunny finished. "I thought we had Scarlet cornered for sure. But then Blister swoops in out of nowhere and…" A noise somewhere between a frustrated growl and a pained whimper escaped her throat. "Plan ruined. Again. I don't know why we bother trying any more."

He tried to think of something to say, but, overwhelmed by the events of the day, his brain could scarcely move.

"So the Skywings won't help us?" said Fatespeaker.

"No, they'll still try. Ruby doesn't want Blister camping on her borders any more than we do. But with Scarlet and her rebels still loose, she won't be able to help nearly as much." Starflight heard Sunny sigh. "We'll…we'll just have to figure things out with Moorhen."

The sun slowly descended to the west as they flew, warming Starflight's right side as it had earlier in the morning. A patrol met them at the edge of the kingdom, and escorted them to the palace, where they practically tumbled to the ground.

"Mother," said Sunny, voice laced with fatigue. "Get Qibli to the healers. I'll go meet with Moorhen and deliver the news. The rest of you, get some rest."

"Sunny," said Starflight, "let me come with you. I don't want you to face Moorhen alone."

"It's fine, Starflight. I can handle this. You and Fatespeaker get some rest. You've all had a long day."

"Are you sure?" He could feel his legs quivering with exhaustion, but even so he couldn't bear to let Sunny do this alone.

She hesitated for a heartbeat, then said, "I am. I came up with this plan and convinced Moorhen it was worth it, so it's my responsibility to bring her the bad news."

Without another word she left, her light step making barely any noise on the soft mud. Starflight heard the doors to the palace creak open, then boom close.

Aimless, Starflight let his friends lead him to the huts Moorhen had given them as resting spots. Around him the camp buzzed, even in the dying light of the day. He heard soldiers clomping this way and that, weapons and armor being unstrapped and stowed. Dinner fires crackled, the smell of succulent meat wafting through the air. His stomach grumbled loudly; Blister hadn't fed him well in his captivity, and Starflight had lost weight. Beside him, Clay chuckled

"We'll get something to eat before we turn in tonight. You must be starving."

"I'm fine," Starflight mumbled.

Clay sighed suddenly. "You're not…mad at us, are you?"

Starflight turned to the Mudwing. "Mad? About what?"

"For leaving you guys in the rainforest," came Tsunami's voice from up ahead. Her normally boisterous voice was quiet, filled with guilt. "We thought you and Fatespeaker were goners…"

"We forgot about you until we were almost to the Mud Kingdom," said Clay. "That night in the rainforest was chaotic. We didn't notice you weren't with us until Sunny pointed it out."

"I think that's why Sunny was so curt with you earlier," said Tsunami. "She isn't just dealing with this whole mess with Scarlet—she also feels bad about leaving you behind. As do all of us."

Surprised, Starflight could only respond with, "It's alright. I mean, Fate and I are back now, right?"

"Yeah," said Fatespeaker, piping up beside him. "We were in the Nightwing village when Blister attacked. There was nothing you could do to help us. Just bad luck, really."

Clay and Tsunami were silent.

"Look," said Starflight, "right now, I'm just thankful we're all back together again. Being captured by Blister…it showed me how much I took you guys for granted. I didn't realize how much you all meant to me until Blister yanked us apart." He smiled, shook his head. "Now I know, and I'll never let myself forget. We're the Dragons of Destiny—we belong together. So don't feel bad, it's all done and over with."

The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. They met Glory and the others by the huts, where she practically buried Starflight in a smothering hug, her scales unrepentantly bright pink. Clay left to get some food, returning a short while later with some chicken, fish, and fruit for them all to share. They caught up while they ate, Starflight and Fatespeaker explaining everything that had happened since their capture.

"I should say," said Starflight, "not all the Nightwings are reluctant to serve Blister. My sister Fierceteeth was one of the first to submit to her, and she's now wrapped firmly around Blister's talon." He sighed, shaking his head. "I thought she was better than this. But the truth is, she can't see any further than her hatred for Rainwings. Joining Blister was just an excuse for her to fight Glory."

Night descended around them, the cool air brushing against Starflight's scales. The night creatures began their nocturnal concert: crickets chirped around them, frogs croaked, while an owl hooted from somewhere behind. In the distance, Starflight heard a splash, some creature slipping into a pond for the night. His head nodded as fatigue overtook him.

He was roused from his drowsing by approaching clawsteps. The others perked up.

"Sunny?" said Glory, voice filled with concern.

He heard Sunny fidget, claws digging furrows in the mud with soft squelching noises. She didn't respond.

"Wha…" Starflight's voice halted. He started again. "What did Moorhen say?"

She stayed silent for so long that Starflight thought she hadn't heard. He was about to open his mouth again when she spoke.

"Moorhen is digging in. She and her dragons—they're all going to fight to the end. They'll either push back Blister, or die trying. And she expects us to do the same.

"This is it, everyone. If Blister beats us here…" Her voice dropped, barely a breath above a whisper. "We're done."

She walked through the group, making her way past Starflight, who stood motionless, words dead in his throat.

"Sunny," said Clay, his voice straining to sound upbeat. Starflight heard him pick up something. "We saved you a lizard. You hungry?"

"No."

Her steps disappeared as she entered her hut.

"Well, OK then," said Clay. "I'll just leave it here warming over the embers, if you get, uh, hungry…overnight…"

Starflight stood, head bowed. Slowly he lowered himself to his belly, muscles stiff, breathing constricted and shallow. Fatespeaker scooted close and opened her wing, letting Starflight bury his head in her warm scales as despair coursed through his veins.

Behind his sightless eyes, all Starflight could see was Blister's horde descending upon them.

* * *

The battles began.

Small skirmishes, at first. Scouting parties infringing on the borders, teasing the Mudwings. They harassed, constantly, striking swiftly and retreating quickly. Moorhen's forces were clumsy, like a great heavy dragon encircled by smaller, faster foes.

Casualties. A Sandwing here, a Mudwing there. Torn scales and fresh wounds, shredded wings and bloodied claws. The healers' huts were prepared, the medicinal stock replenished in preparation for the worst. With no other purpose, Sunny found herself increasingly drawn to the infirmaries, helping the wounded whenver she could, soothing their pain and fear with soft words and quiet encouragement.

Not all survived. Some of the wounded suffered, deteriorated, their injuries either infected or poisoned beyond the healers' capabilities. Others came into camp carried by their comrades, bearing injuries so terrible Sunny couldn't fathom how they were still alive. Always Sunny stayed by them until they breathed their last. She joined their sibs every time as they held silent vigil at the memorials.

She heard the Mudwings whisper, wonder at her fortitude. The diplomat of the Dragons of Destiny, now turned healer. She heard their admiration, their quiet praise for her strength. For she never shed tears, never shied from the grievous wounds of war, no matter how terrible. Where the healers would cringe and look away, she stood firm—always calm, always collected, always doing the best she could to save the soldiers fighting for Pyrrhia's freedom.

What the Mudwings didn't know, what no one, not even her friends knew…was that Sunny of the Sandwings silently cried herself to sleep every single night. No one knew of the nightmares that plagued her, as she saw again and again the blood, the gore, the traumatized faces of each wounded soldier she faced, the desperation written clearly in their eyes.

Every night, Sunny asked herself one question: was a free Pyrrhia truly worth this endless suffering?

And every night, she was unable to answer that question.

* * *

War was, above all, exhausting.

She'd been enthused, at first, to finally get some action. To have Scarlet slip through her grasp was nearly too much for Tsunami to handle. She wanted to shred something, break something apart with her claws. She wanted Blister and her dragons to pay for what they'd done.

She got her chance with Clay's sib troop.

Clay was stuck back at camp, neck deep in work that Moorhen had given him. So Tsunami flew in his stead with Reed and his sibs, an honored guest in their ranks. They welcomed her, knowing how well she fought, remembering how she defended the rainforest from Blister. A botched defense, Tsunami was keen to remind them. They laughed, and said they didn't care. They were glad to have her anyway.

They were stuck on the front lines of the fighting—patrolling the Mudwing border, checking in on the other outposts and command posts, clashing with Blister's skirmishers when necessary. She flew far each day, as she and the troop made multiple runs of the border. The attacks came, more and more frequently with each passing day. Blister had already felt out Moorhen's defenses with her early scouting forays. Now the Queen of Poison began in earnest her real assault on the Mudwing stronghold.

Now not a day passed that they didn't encounter an enemy; often they clashed multiple times a day. Tsunami's fury quickly drained as the days of conflict dragged on into weeks. She fought Icewings in the air, dodging their frostbreath by mere talon lengths. She fought Sandwings on the ground, belly deep in mud and swamp water, evading their deadly stingers. She fought Nightwings at night, as they attempted to infiltrate under the camouflage of darkness—they fell back easily, but it was enough to keep the Seawing on edge, constantly paranoid of attack, always expecting the warning call an enemy strike. Her muscles ached, her wings felt sore. Her scales were dirty, the glow-in-the-dark spots along her body caked so heavily in dried mud that she could barely see their glow. A layer of blood coated her claws, and every night she tried in vain to clean them.

She didn't want to be a cold-blooded monster. She didn't want Blister to turn her into the rabid, feral beast that Scarlet had turned her father Gill into. So she tried to keep count of those she killed, tried to remember the faces of those whose lives she ended. A female Sandwing, face fresh and innocent. A old Icewing, silver eyes fierce and loyal. A lean Nightwing, barely a dragonet, eyes wide with fear as he faced her down. She vowed to remember them, and respect them for their courage and self-sacrifice, even if it was for a tyrant.

Tsunami began to loose track around a dozen and stopped trying to count after twenty. Gone was the determination to see justice done to Blister's dragons. All Tsunami wished for was a break in the fighting, a chance for her to rest and catch her breath. She knew with cold, depressing certainty that no break would come. The war was her life. Wake up, grab a small bite to eat. Patrol and fight for a whole day. Come home exhausted, eat a quick dinner, then sleep.

Wake up. Fight. Sleep poorly.

Wake. Fight. Sleep.

Fight. Sleep.

Wake. Fight.

Fight.

* * *

They were blind. Blind, deaf, and thrashing about in darkness.

Hammered by Blister's forces, Moorhen couldn't counterattack, couldn't send scouts of her own to check on the lay of the Sandwing queen's formations. Blister had them hemmed in, her dragons extending the front line far north into the Claws, then south and east along the border, before wrapping around to end at the Bay of a Thousand Scales, near the "tail" of Pyrrhia. They fought the war on Blister's terms, reacting to her assaults, always defending. Moorhen had attempted a spearhead on Blister's main force early on in the siege. It had taken a dozen slain sib troops for Moorhen to realize that a frontal assault against three dragon tribes wasn't going to work. Since then they had hunkered behind their defensive positions, watching and waiting for Blister, too scared to attempt another offensive.

It infuriated Starflight that Blister had cut them off so completely. They had virtually no contact with anyone outside the Mud Kingdom, so thoroughly did Blister have them surrounded. He, along with Moorhen's intelligence officers, tried to garner what information they could on Blister's tactics, on what her plans were before she could execute them. Their pickings were wretched at best, nonexistent at worst. Scouts were driven off, spies either killed or never heard from again. Most of what they knew came from the frontlines, and by then it was usually to late.

Most disturbing of all, Starflight began seeing new armor and weapons among Blister's troops. Spears coated with Sandwing venom, blowpipes similar to those of the Rainwings filled with poisonous darts. Scaled armor, light yet strong, effective at stopping Mudwing claws and teeth. It wasn't until Starflight recognized the venom-proofed helmets that he put two and two together.

Mastermind was developing new technology for Blister.

He couldn't believe it. He'd made his father promise to never experiment on dragons again, to never develop anything for the purpose of harming dragons. He thought his father had been sincere when he'd talked with him in the rainforest. Had it all been a façade, a lie to hide his true intentions?

Or perhaps, a small voice said in Starflight's head, Mastermind didn't have a choice. Starflight had no doubt Blister would make the most of any resources she had, and his father was definitely a valuable dragon. It wasn't a terrible stretch to imagine Blister threatening Mastermind into working for her. His father was knowledgeable of many things, but fighting was not one of them. He probably had to work for Blister, or risk death at her talons.

At least, that's what Starflight hoped. He couldn't face the other possibility.

News came in one day, weeks into the siege. Ruby had gotten her dragons down south and was now fighting Blister from the north, despite constant harassment from Scarlet's rebels. Starflight and the others hoped this meant a lifting of the siege, that they could finally get some breathing space and push Blister back. Alas, no such luck. From what little he could gather, Ruby's advance had been stalled, and she was stuck near the southern reaches of the Claws as surely as they were. Despite fighting on two fronts, Blister managed to hold her own. Moorhen still couldn't make headway against her forces.

Desperate, Starflight poured through all the scrolls he could get his claws on—intel reports, war treatises, stratagems and tactics. He even tried some dusty history scrolls to see if they had anything. Together, he and Fatespeaker would stay up late into the night, her quiet, enunciated voice reading out every line of every scroll they had. He would sit silent, committing everything memory, trying to formulate a strategy to break Blister's siege. As the nights passed with few results to show for, Starflight felt that his brain was slowly dissolving to mush.

He couldn't deny it. Blister had completely outwitted him.

* * *

The Rainwings hated the war.

They also hated the Mud Kingdom, with its goopy, cold mud and strange sights and smells. They hated the constant cloud cover that hid their precious sun, hated the brisk, chilly wind that blew in from the Bay. They hated the charred meat that they got, fruit being so rare in the swamps that they had no choice but to eat what the Mudwings had. They hated it all, and their scales soon took on a semi-permanent shade of dreary, pale blue.

Glory found herself surrounded by a hundred copies of herself.

She did what she could to help her tribe. She went around, cheering up the somber, playing with restless dragonets. She settled disputes, reassured her subjects, spoke with Moorhen about the issues plaguing her dragons, though the Mudwing queen was so preoccupied with defending her kingdom that she had little time to dwell on Glory's Rainwing refugees. Helpless, Glory had no choice but to deal with the problems herself. It soon wore her down.

"It's funny," said Deathbringer one day, as they gazed out over the sullen lot of dragons, "that you call yourselves 'Rainwings' when you all love the sun so much."

Glory snorted, not in the mood for jokes. "It wasn't my idea."

He shrugged at that. "Just trying to lighten the mood, Glory. All this brooding isn't good for anyone."

Then he'd been called away on some mission or another. Moorhen made the most of Deathbringer's skills, and the Nightwing assassin had largely accepted under the condition that he never be forced to kill a fellow Nightwing. Moorhen understood, and had him target Blister and Icicle's soldiers instead.

Which left her to deal with her tribe of cranky Rainwings, day in and day out. It was not a pleasant task.

Some nights, as Glory tossed and turned trying to fall asleep, she wondered if it wouldn't be better to simply leave it all behind. She and Deathbringer could fly away to some hidden corner of Pyrrhia, where Blister could never find them, and make a new life for themselves far from the war. What reason did she have for staying? Her tribe was in shambles and evicted from its home. They had little hope of beating Blister at this point, what with Sandwings, Icewings, Nightwings, and Scarlet's Skywings on her side. All they had were the Mudwings, who were vastly outnumbered, and Ruby's Skywings, who were too cut off from them to be of much help. Glory couldn't help but feel the war was a lost cause.

 _Pyrrhia is a big continent,_ she thought. _Let Blister have it, if she wants. There's probably an island out in the Bay that's too isolated for Blister to find us. We're just two dragons, Death and me. Surely Blister wouldn't go that far just to hunt us down._

 _And your friends_ , thought another side of her. _What about them? Will just leave them behind to be killed by Blister? Are you going to run, while they make a stand? Refuse to fight, like a useless Rainwing?_

She told herself to stop being so selfish, yet the thoughts kept at her anyway. How easy it would be, to just leave all the suffering behind…

* * *

Food was getting scarce.

The weeks turned into months. Summer became autumn, then winter. The chill damp of the season settled over the Mud Kingdom, while the cool breeze off the Bay turned into a biting, freezing wind. The leaves withered, then dropped. The crickets and frogs went silent, as the swamp birds flew south, their wide V's and clamoring calls disrupting the sounds of battle beneath. The critters of the Mud Kingdom went to ground, burrowing beneath the earth in warm burrows, dozing through the cold while the dragons warred above.

Blister and Moorhen remained locked in a siege—Moorhen unable to push back, but too entrenched for Blister to easily crush her. Casualties mounted on both sides; soon there were too many for either side to deal with, and the fallen were left to rot out in the tepid swamps, their blood staining the marsh red, their bodies attracting swarms of flies and waves of scavengers. Vultures circled daily overhead, their cries and squabbles echoing across the empty landscape as they feasted on the victims of war.

Despite the decreasing number of mouths to feed, Moorhen's hunting parties had increasing trouble bringing back game to feed the hungry soldiers. As the cold came and the prey scattered, they ranged farther and farther from camp, sometimes going into enemy territory just to catch a scrap of meat. Blister did likewise, and soon clashes arose between the two sides; Moorhen resorted to assigning escorts to her hunters. She even went as far as fishing from the Bay, though the Mudwings made for lousy anglers. Even if they weren't, the waters near the shore contained only small fry—the bigger fish were out in deep waters, too far for Moorhen's hunting parties to feasibly reach.

Clay had been kept busy at first, helping Moorhen's quartermaster handle the food and supplies in the camp. With so many mouths to feed and so much food to distribute, he had had little time to dwell on his friends' welfare as he went about his duties. Now, with prey dwindling, Clay had more time on his claws than he knew what to do with. He found himself making rounds through the camp, watching the despondent soldiers as they went about their tasks. Their gazes were worn, their scales filthy with mud and blood. Their beefy frames were slimming, their ribs beginning to show as malnutrition reared its ugly head. His friends were no better, thinning slowly as rations tightened. Three meals a day had been reduced to two, then one. Soon Clay found himself handing out carefully weighed portions to the dragons at feeding time—a single chicken haunch for everyone, or half a leg of goat or pig if none was available.

"That's it?" said one Mudwing as Clay handed him his measly dinner. "That's all we're getting?"

"Queen's orders," said the quartermaster next to Clay, a hulking big Mudwing riddled with scars from past battles. "Unless you want to go hungry, I'd advise you to eat up and stop complaining."

"We spend weeks, months fighting these muddy Sandwings," grumbled another soldier, "and all we get to fill our bellies is yesterday's leftovers?"

"There's gonna be more tomorrow," said Clay, knowing full well that wasn't true. "The hunters are doing their best."

The soldiers looked dubious, though none protested any further. They filed by, collected their rations, and headed off to eat in small groups.

"Maybe we should hunt them vultures," Clay heard one soldier say. "They're getting fat enough feeding off our dead fellows."

"Naw," said another. "They taste nasty. All stringy and bony, plus I heard they carry diseases."

"I could go for a cow right about now," moaned a third, "or two. Moons, maybe even a whole herd."

"Feh. You couldn't even fit a cow down your gullet, let alone in your stomach."

"Quit your jabbering and eat already," barked the quartermaster. "You'll make each other hungry before long."

Clay heard a quiet snort of disdain. "Like we aren't already."

As if in agreement, Clay heard his stomach growl loudly. He sighed, trying to push the tantalizing smell of the food out of his mind. Around him the air swirled as a few tiny snowflakes began drifting down from the overcast sky.

Come spring, he didn't know if there'd be any dragons left to fight Blister. Starvation might kill them before the Queen of Poison could.

* * *

"Still no sign of Coral?" said Blister.

"No, Your Majesty," said Scarab, bowing low before her, tone repentant. "My scouts have combed every last rock in the Bay. Either the Seawings are hidden too deep for us to reach, or they've fled into the open ocean." He raised his head slightly, eyeing Blister nervously.

She wanted to tear something open in frustration, mutilate some poor creature like Burn used to do. But no—that was not queenly. She had appearances to keep. So instead she sighed, venting her anger in a long breath.

"We'll find that weak-willed excuse for a queen eventually. What else do you have to report, Lieutenant?"

Before her, Scarab fidgeted, looking even more nervous. Mentally Blister prepared herself for the worst.

"There's been another altercation between the Icewings and the Nightwings."

Blister's eyes narrowed. "Again? That's the fifth time this month."

"It was an attack, Your Majesty. A Nightwing huntress flew out this morning to catch prey, and returned heavily wounded earlier this afternoon. She claims Icewings ambushed her, and tried to kill her before she fled. The Icewing soldiers deny any such—"

"I don't care what they have to say," spat Blister. "I have had it with these pointless spats between these two tribes. Tell Fierceteeth and Icicle that if they can't keep their dragons in line, I'm executing the perpetrators on _both_ sides next time. I will not tolerate infighting in my ranks."

Scarab bowed, wings spread. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Now then. The Outclaws?"

"Still harassing our flanks. And, uh, your brother is with them."

Blister sat up. "Smolder?"

"Yes. He was spotted flying alongside Thorn yesterday." Scarab frowned. "We have no idea how he's managed to meet with her, or join her organization."

 _Well, you did let him escape,_ Blister thought bitterly, _you incompetent jackalope._

"Whatever. Smolder is harmless. Just make sure to drive off Thorn and her gang. What about Scarlet?"

"She's kept up her guerrilla attacks on Ruby and prevented her from pushing south into our forces."

Finally some good news. "And the Nightwing scientist? Mastermind?"

"He's working hard on the new weapons and armor. We already have the prototypes out in the field, and the Nightwing is working on further improvements as we speak."

Blister cocked her head. "Good. Any signs of discontent on his part?"

Scarab looked uncertain. "Um…none that I've seen, Your Majesty. But I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual."

Blister nodded curtly. "Good to hear. If you have nothing else to report, Lieutenant, you're free to go."

As the tent flap fell behind Scarab's retreating figure, Blister picked up a cushion and hurled it against the tent wall as hard as she could. It smacked the wall with a muffled _whump_ and fell to the ground. Peeved, Blister hurled a second cushion, then third, until her tent was littered with cushions.

Panting, Blister fought the urge to stab something with her tail. Months had passed with little progress, and she was getting impatient. Things kept getting in her way—if it wasn't the weather and lack of prey, it was Thorn's Outclaws or infighting between her dragons. She'd wanted to finish off the dragonets before autumn came so she could be back in the desert before the weather cooled. Now here she was, stamping her claws for warmth, as outside a light snowstorm covered the camp in a fine layer of white.

 _No doubt Icicle's thrilled at this. She and her Icewings must be having a field day. They seem to get a kick out of mocking me. As soon as Moorhen and these wretched dragonets are six feet under, I'm heading back to the Stronghold. This siege is long past due to end._

She shook herself, still feeling miserable.

 _What a moons-begotten mess. Mother never had to deal with stuff like this._

"Then again," she said to herself, "mother never tried to conquer a continent."

In the ensuing silence, she thought she could hear her mother's ghostly, jeering laughter.

* * *

Deep in the Bay of a Thousand Scales, a lone Seawing swam, determination written on his face, as he followed the undersea currents toward the Deep Palace.

 _She has to try,_ he thought. _Coral has to believe me. Without her, we'll never win against Blister._

He fanned his wings and pushed them back, using his tail as a rudder to steer himself. He recalled Tsunami's protests, her concern that it would end badly.

 _I need to do this. Tsunami is needed on the front lines. I'm the only one who can do this._

He scanned the seabed, eyeing the rocky promontories around him for guards and patrols. The coast clear, he swam forward.

 _Coral may call me and father traitors. But everything we've done, we've ultimately done to help the Seawings. Coral has to see that. She must!_

Fish eddied around him. Nearby, an eel poked its head out of its hole, before shrinking back.

 _She can't keep hiding forever. She needs to come out and face Blister. Together, we must all face Blister._

Suddenly the Seawing spotted flashes of light ahead. Through the murk, a squad of three Seawings made their way toward him. They flashed their scales, and he saw their message. _Identify yourself,_ they demanded.

Calmly, the Seawing flashed a message back.

 _My name is Riptide. I come on behalf of the Dragons of Destiny to request Queen Coral's aid. Please, take me to her. I must speak with her immediately._

* * *

 **A/N:** Quite an unusual chapter this time around, as it takes place over a relatively long period of time. The books, as it turns, actually take place over a very short period of time. I'm not certain of the exact numbers, but if you keep track of how much time elapses between the dragonets escaping the mountain in _The Dragonet Prophecy_ , and the peace meeting at the end of _The Brightest Night_ , I believe only three or four weeks have passed. 0.0 That's not a lot of time, when you think about it.

This meant that I wanted to take a different approach to a time shift for my story. I wanted to show the war as it wears down on the dragonets, show the changes that happen to them as they go through this experience, but I didn't want to take a million chapters and forever to do it. So I settled on a "mini-cycle" of narration between the five dragonets, with Blister thrown in for kicks. The last section is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing of what's coming up.

This is also the longest chapter I have to date...about 6,000 words, including this author's note. So much for shorter chapters...Oh well. Rate and review, as always - your comments all really make my day. And thank you, really, for taking all the time so far to invest in this story. It means the world to me. :)

See you next time as we take the plunge beneath the waves to see what in tarnation Riptide's gotten up to. You might wanna bring a dive suit. And some scuba gear. We're gonna be down there for a while.

~SpicyDog99


	20. The Tale of the Sea Dragon

**A/N:** I must apologize in advance, this chapter (and probably the next couple ones) will have lots and lots of italicised text. The reason will become apparent in the chapter. Do tell me if you'd prefer it all in quotations instead.

* * *

The Tale of the Sea Dragon

Sunlight filtered through the shallow water of the Bay, the shafts illuminating the sandy bottom in shifting spots of light. Schools of minnows swirled, twisting and billowing to avoid the darting motions of dolphins as they feasted on the fish, their squealing calls piercing underwater. The seafloor was abundant with life. Forests of seaweed waved in the current like long, green banners, disturbed occasionally by otters frolicking through the strands. Coral reefs crawled away for leagues into the murky distance, the multicolored branches and blossoming fronds bustling with constant activity. Crabs skittered along the bottom while colorful tropical fish swam among the coral beds. Nearby, a lone sea turtle meandered slowly, its eyes half-lidded, motions languid and unhurried.

Tsunami ignored it all.

The young Seawing pushed her way through the water, her wings snapping behind her in repetitive, violent movements. Her tail swayed side-to-side with a metronomic beat, the spots on her tail lighting unconsciously as Tsunami seethed. Eyes narrowed, claws clenched and tucked against her belly, she powered forward, angry thoughts matched only be her determination to find the one responsible for her dilemma.

 _I can't believe this. I can't believe he'd be stupid enough to do this. My mother wants him dead for joining the Talons of Peace, so what does he do? Why, he goes off,_ by himself, _to the Deep Palace to ask for help in this wretched war. Because that can't possibly go wrong now, can it?_

Frustrated, she lashed out at a passing school of fish, dispersing it with a swirl of bubbles.

 _No. Of course he would do this. He's Riptide, by the three moons. I bet he did it just to spite me. So here I am, coming to rescue him. Again. If I had a pearl for every time I had to bail that squid brain out of my mother's dungeons…_

Her thoughts petered off into a thoughtless growl as she recalled the past week. Riptide had floated the idea of contacting Queen Coral for help in the war for quite some time, ever since it became clear that Ruby's help alone wouldn't be enough. It was a great idea—and Tsunami thought it'd be awesome if Coral could get her revenge on the Sandwing sister who'd tried to manipulate her—but the war kept Tsunami and the rest of her friends too busy to do anything about it. No one had seen any of Coral's Seawings since the attack on the Summer Palace, so it was clear that her mother had fled to the Deep Palace to avoid any further attacks on her tribe.

Only she, Riptide, and Webs knew where the Deep Palace was, and only the three of them could possibly reach it. Tsunami would have volunteered to go the Deep Palace, but Blister's forces kept at them every day, and Moorhen's Mudwings needed her help. Riptide and Webs were out of the question, or so she'd thought; apparently Riptide hadn't gotten the "Coral wants to rip your heart out" memo, and decided to have himself a go at diplomacy.

That had been a week ago. Tsunami would have gone to pursue him earlier, but a certain Seawing kept her back—and he was currently swimming right alongside her.

She spared a glance at Webs, who kept up easily despite her fast pace. Her former guardian looked younger now that he was back in his element. His movements weren't as stiff, and a healthy flush touched his scales, lightening them to viridian. His eyes glowed with purpose, the ridges of his brows set in a determined glare that matched Tsunami's.

She flashed her scales at him. _You sure about this?_ She asked in Aquatic.

Starting slightly at the sight of her signals, Webs shortly responded in kind. _Absolutely. Anything for my son._

 _My mother will kill you._

Webs smiled. _You said bill, not kill._ He flashed a series of patches near the base of his tail that was similar to what Tsunami had tried to flash. _Be careful of similar sounding words._

She rolled her eyes. Part of the reason for the delay in her leaving was that Webs insisted on teaching her more Aquatic before she could leave. She protested at first, before realizing that the Deep Palace had no air—she'd have to communicate solely by her luminescent scales. So she settled down in her lessons, though the sheer amount of information she'd had to cram into her brain over the past days was mind splitting. Still, she managed for the most part, only messing up every so often on harder phrases or words that had similar flash patterns.

 _You know what I mean._

His smile fell, but the driven look in his eyes remained. _So? I'm done running. I'm done with being a coward._ He pumped his wings, the wide membranes momentarily obscuring his signals. _I have to do this. To redeem myself. For my son. For the queen._

He looked away.

 _For my mate._

Tsunami didn't reply. He seemed so different from the dragon he'd previously been—so weak-willed and ineffectual, now he was selfless to the point of endangering himself. She wished _this_ had been the dragon to raise and train them under the mountain.

 _It's going to be tough,_ she replied. _You know how stubborn my mother can be. Convincing her to join us will be hard enough. Getting her to let you and Riptide go…I don't know if even I can do that._

Webs grimaced. _Leave that to me. You focus on getting Coral's help for the war. That is more important._

They swam on for a while, heading for deeper waters. Tsunami scanned the deep for any sign of Seawing patrols, but so far she couldn't see any.

 _Webs,_ she said, _if you don't mind me asking…_

He turned to her. _Yes?_

She'd never bothered to ask before about his family. But now that she possibly, maybe had something going with Riptide, she found herself curious to know more about his family.

 _Your mate. What was she like?_

He was silent for so long that she was positive he wasn't going to answer.

 _She…_ His signals were halting, dim, as if he were uncertain what to say. _Her name was Echo._ His gills flattened, then flared, bubbles rushing past his scales as if he were heaving a sigh.

 _There isn't much to say about us. We'd known each other for our whole lives, since we were hatchlings. We grew up together, joined the same flight in Coral's army. We were always side-by-side, watching each other's backs. I guess it was only a matter of time before we fell in love._ He chuckled, a burst of bubbles drifting up from his gills.

 _She was the one who wanted a dragonet. I thought it'd be too risky—I'd seen dragonets orphaned by the war, and I didn't want ours to suffer the same fate. But she insisted, and so we had Riptide. When I saw how happy she was with him, I was glad I'd listened to her._

His expression glowed with wistful remembrance, and Tsunami couldn't help feeling glad for him; the old dragon had few reasons to be happy now, and it was nice to see him smiling again. Still, there was one thing that bothered her.

 _If you loved her and Riptide so much, why did you leave to join the Talons?_

Webs lowered his head in shame. _Because I was a coward. The war wore down on me, and I just couldn't take it any more. But it was more than that, Tsunami,_ he flashed, turning towards her with insistence in his eyes. _I knew I could never go back to Echo and Riptide, but I didn't care—all I wanted was for them to live in a peaceful world. If I could make that happen, then it didn't matter that I couldn't see them again; I'd rest easy knowing they were OK. That's why, during my time in the Talons, I believed so much in bringing peace to Pyrrhia. That's why I kept repeating it to all of you. Tsunami, you and your friends were the only chance that my beloved and our son could be safe forever._

She didn't know what to say. _I'm sorry,_ was all she could manage.

He shook his head. _Don't be. It's not your fault that Echo is gone, that Riptide and I are both—_

He cut off suddenly, eyes perking up at something in the distance. Tsunami followed his gaze to several figures approaching in the distance. One figure in front looked familiar. On edge, she signaled Webs to stay back, before swimming forward to meet the Seawing patrol.

The dragon in front narrowed his eyes as he spotted Tsunami and Webs. His pale eyes were a shade lighter than the grey-green scales covering his powerful form from head to tail. He signaled something, and two Seawings beside him moved forward.

 _Wait!_ Tsunami flashed. _Commander Shark, this dragon is with me. Do not attack him._

She relished in the wave of surprise that passed over the Seawing patrol. She was no longer the mute princess who couldn't even speak her tribe's language.

 _Princess Tsunami,_ said Shark, his eyes narrowing slightly now that he'd regained his composure. _Niece._

 _Uncle,_ she replied curtly.

 _How odd that we meet this way again after so long. Your mother's been anxious to have you back ever since we got word the peace meeting had gone awry. It's good that you're finally returning to your tribe. Though you'll have to explain why you've brought a traitor along with you._

Beside her Webs was motionless, his face a stony façade. He met her gaze, silently giving her permission to speak for both of them.

 _I have reason to believe that Webs' son came to speak with my mother about her joining the war against Blister,_ said Tsunami. _He came a week ago, and he hasn't returned since. Have you seen him?_

Shark snorted a cloud of bubbles from his gills. _Oh yes, we've seen him. He's currently in Her Majesty's dungeons where he belongs._

She closed her eyes, silencing her growls of anger. No surprise there. Riptide had guts, she couldn't deny it, but this was a doomed mission from the start, at least for him. Tsunami was just glad her mother hadn't simply offed him on the spot.

 _Then can you please take us to mother, uncle? I'd like a word with her, and possibly with Riptide as well._

Shark smirked. _You may do whatever you please, Tsunami. But that traitor will be joining his son,_ he said, pointing at Webs.

 _He stays with me,_ she objected immediately. _I'll be talking with mother about the terms of his punishment, and his son's._

Shark's nostrils flared, fury in his eyes. _That is the dragon who abducted you when you were in your egg, Tsunami. He's a thief and a traitor to the tribe. He deserves to be punished!_

 _Are you defying my orders, Shark?_

Shark balked momentarily, gills flared in indignation.

 _You will let Webs come with me, Commander. Unless you want to explain to mother why you disobeyed your princess's will._

The Seawing commander bared a fang in contempt, but seemed to relent. _If that is your wish, princess. This way._

They followed Shark's patrol, heading back in the direction they came from. It wasn't long before the surroundings became familiar, and soon a wide canyon opened up beneath them, filled with the same coral structures that Tsunami had first seen over half a year ago. The place was just as busy with Seawings, and this time around they drew noticeably more looks as they passed the other dragons, no doubt because of Webs trailing behind her. In particular, she noticed a lot of Seawing soldiers milling about, giving Webs glares as they passed.

 _Lots of soldiers,_ Tsunami thought, eyes sweeping over the flights training for combat and patrols circling in the distance. _Mother brought everyone with her. Is she that scared of being attacked?_

On the flip side, the Seawing troops looked to be in excellent shape. They were strong, fast, and coordinated, from what she could see. She didn't see any wounded dragons around, now that Coral had shut herself away from any wars. And there were so many! She didn't have time to count, but she estimated that they'd passed about five or six flights worth of troops as they headed to the Deep Palace. Tsunami was certain that her mother had more, likely stationed all across the Bay.

 _We could do it. My tribe, the Seawings,_ she thought with pride. _If mother agrees, we'd have enough troops to match Blister's forces. We could finally beat her back and break the siege, maybe even push her back into the Sand Kingdom!_

They hadn't been the only ones to suffer in the siege—Blister's troops seemed to fare about as well as their own in the cold winter. She'd noticed in recent weeks that Blister's attacks were getting less and less frequent, her soldiers pushing forward less often and spending more time camping in their holdouts. In her decreasing fights with the Sandwings and Icewings, she noticed they looked gaunter, their scales dirty and wings tattered from numerous tangles on the front line. Most of all, the fiery drive that had previously possessed them to throw themselves again and again at Moorhen's troops had been replaced with the same look of misery that mirrored their own. With enemy morale as weak as it was, now was the perfect opportunity to break the siege with a fresh army of Seawing troops.

Assuming her mother agreed to join.

They arrived at the palace entrance and sailed in, stopping before the massive statue of Coral. Shark turned to them and flashed his scales.

 _I'll escort you to Coral. The traitor may stay here._

 _I said he's coming with me, Shark._

He glared impatiently at her. _If you know what's best for him, you'll leave him here for the time being. There's no telling that my sister won't simply attack him if you bring him into her throne room. Your mother is very protective of her dragonets—I doubt she'd listen to anything you say while you have_ him _next to you._ He gestured with his head at Webs, still refusing to use his name.

Tsunami glanced back at Webs, who simply settled his wings to his body, tail curled up as he floated listlessly. _Go, Tsunami. You should speak with Queen Coral first._

She was skeptical that Shark wouldn't have Webs dragged off to the dungeons while she spoke with her mother. Still she saw the wisdom in Shark's words. The last time her mother had met Webs face to face she'd nearly cracked his skull open with her tail.

 _Fine. But if I see so much as a_ scratch _on him when I get back—_

 _Yes, yes, we won't touch him. Come, Tsunami. We shouldn't keep your mother waiting._

Tsunami left Webs surrounded by Shark's patrol and followed her uncle through the maze of halls and branching corridors of the Deep Palace. Eventually they came to a wide entrance covered by a veil of seaweed draped over the doorframe. Two Seawings stood guard on either side of the door. Their eyes went wide when they saw Shark escorting Tsunami, and they immediately bowed before both of them.

 _Commander. Princess,_ signaled one of the guards.

 _We request an audience with Her Majesty. The reason should be obvious,_ said Shark.

The guard that had spoken hurried through the veil of seaweed, and returned almost instantly. _Right this way, Princess,_ he flashed.

Shark left to return to his duties, and Tsunami followed the guard into her mother's audience chamber. It wasn't as grandiose as the pavilion in the Summer Palace, but Tsunami was awed by it anyway. The ceiling was open, letting in light and allowing Tsunami to see all the way to the surface above. Around her, the walls were made with various types of exotic coral: pink crystalline bushes, pale branching trees, ruffles of gold and wrinkled green buds that looked like brains. Unlike Scarlet's palace, with all its inlaid gold and jewels stacked every which way, her mother's palace was beautiful in its own natural way, utilizing the ocean's array of colors rather than shiny gems.

Queen Coral was lying on a large dais on the opposite side of the room, bedecked in her usual adornment of pearls. Anemone and Auklet were curled up beside her, and, to Tsunami's mild disbelief, both were still harnessed. The second Tsunami stepped through the seaweed veil Coral surged up and leapt from her dais, Anemone and Auklet right behind her. She'd been expecting it, but nevertheless Tsunami had the breath knocked out of her when they virtually buried her in an embrace, tails and wings and harness ropes tangling.

 _Urk,_ she thought painfully _, a little tight, mother?_

Finally her mother released her. Tsunami was positive she'd bruised a rib.

 _Tsunami! Oh it is so wonderful to have you back! After the attack on the Summer Palace you disappeared, and I've been trying so long to contact you. Thank the moons you're alright._ Coral's scalesflashed blindingly fast as she inspected every inch of Tsunami, making sure that she was actually uninjured. Anemone sat beside Coral, beaming, while Auklet bounced to and fro in excitement, her scales flashing incoherently.

 _It's good to see you to mother,_ Tsunami replied.

Anemone started, before flashing, _Tsunami! You can speak Aquatic now._

 _Yes I can, little sister,_ she said, smiling toothily at her. _Now we can talk even underwater._

Her mother looked just as surprised. _You learned Aquatic? Who taught you?_ Her expression soon soured to maternal indignation. _For that matter, what have you been getting up to these past months? My Seawings have only heard rumors—things about rainforests, and peace meetings, and supposedly some_ new _war that's brewed on the surface. It's a dangerous world out there, young dragon. You'd better explain yourself right now. I've been worried sick that something's happened to you, I've had my troops combing every inch of the Bay and even the open ocean for any sign of—_

Desperate, Tsunami held her claws up to make Coral stop. _I'll explain everything, mother._ She nodded to the dais. _May we?_

The dais was large enough for all four of them, even with Coral's massive girth. Once they'd all settled in comfortably Tsunami folded her wings back, making sure all her luminescent scales were visible. Then, with a sigh of water through her gills, she began her tale.

 _After the attack on the Summer Palace, my friends and I escaped to the rainforest…_

* * *

The daylight had faded, the surface above turned indigo by the time Tsunami finished her tale. It had been a struggle, trying to retell all that had happened using only her scales. They had reacted as she'd expected upon hearing of her perilous adventures—her mother with shock and fear, Anemone with rapt, wide-eyed wonder. She had to backtrack and clarify several times when Coral or Anemone got confused by something she'd said, but in the end she managed to bring the two up to date.

 _So…that's why I'm here, mother,_ Tsunami finished. _To ask for your help._

She let her scales fade, plunging the throne room into darkness. Her night vision lent everything a stark, whitewashed tone. Coral was grim, her face etched with deep lines of worry as she contemplated her daughter's story. Her gills fluctuated slowly while her ink-stained claws lightly tapped the dais. Anemone, who'd previously been caught up in Tsunami's story, now gazed at Tsunami with fear in her eyes—fear of Blister, of the war, of the awful dangers her older sister was putting herself in. Auklet, who'd slept through the entire thing, finally woke, little eyes blinking blearily. All three were silent, their scales dark.

 _Well,_ flashed Coral. _That is quite the tale, Tsunami._

Tsunami nodded. _We seem to have a habit of attracting trouble._

 _Or finding it for yourselves,_ said Coral. _You know Blister is a dangerous dragon. Why did_ _you have to go and anger her like this?_ She sighed, a large cloud of bubbles billowing from her gills. _I was hoping that with Blister as Sandwing queen Pyrrhia would be peaceful again. I was hoping you could finally come home, and we could all live here safely at the Deep Palace. Maybe even rebuild the Summer Palace, and move back there._

Tsunami slowly shook her head. _I can't do that until Blister is defeated. I know she's a dangerous dragon—not just to me, but also to my friends and all the other dragons of Pyrrhia. That's why I'm fighting her, mother. It's the only way we can have peace in Pyrrhia._

Coral stood and swam to Tsunami's side, gently nuzzling her snout. _I've lost so many of my daughters over the years. I can't bear to lose any more, Tsunami. Please understand, I only want to see you safe and sound._

She gazed into Tsunami's eyes, green matching green. It was in those eyes that Tsunami saw pain, weakness, and most of all, fear. Her mother, Queen Coral of the Seawings, the great, powerful leader of the strongest tribe in Pyrrhia—and she was _scared_.

No, not just scared.

Terrified.

 _Mother…what's wrong?_ Coral's fear for Tsunami's welfare was expected, but it couldn't have _this_ much of an effect on her mother. Could it?

Coral didn't respond, instead wrenching herself away, the terror in her eyes now shut firmly away, replaced with the cool grace of a regal queen.

 _Now. You mentioned that Webs came with you?_

 _Yes. He wanted to make sure his son was OK._ Certainly Coral, a parent in her own right, couldn't fault Webs for that.

Coral's expression was unreadable, though Tsunami thought she saw the slightest hint of a frown. _And you want him and his son released?_

 _They'll never return, mother. They won't cause the tribe any more harm. I'll make sure of that._

Now Coral did frown, eyes furious. _They're with the Talons of Peace. Webs abandoned his post and abducted your egg. Surely you haven't forgotten that._

Tsunami shook her head. _And in the process, he saved my life. He may have been misguided, but he never intended to hurt me. I know you think he and Riptide are the worst, but I think they've changed. As for the Talons, they've disbanded, at least as far as we know. Webs and Riptide will be staying with us from now on._ Tsunami looked away from her mother's dubious eyes, now feeling nervous herself. _Just…at least consider it. Please?_

Coral was silent for a while. Then, slowly, she stood.

 _We'll see. You've given me a lot to think about Tsunami; we can talk about all of this again later. Come now, dinner is ready. You must all be starving._

Coral swept out of the throne room, towing Anemone and Auklet behind her. Miffed, Tsunami had no choice but to follow.

Dinner was a rather chaotic affair. By now word had spread throughout the palace that Coral's eldest daughter had returned after a months long absence, and a feast had been appropriately arranged to celebrate the occasion. They proceeded to a courtyard outside the palace, where a large stone table sat already bedecked with every imaginable delicacy of the sea: fresh oysters, roasted golden prawns, massive crabs and lobsters, and platters upon platters of fish. Tsunami noticed that every plate had a metal spike in the center, and all the food was impaled on the spike to keep it from floating away. Clever. They'd thought of everything.

The entirety of Coral's council was at the feast along with numerous other high-ranking Seawings Tsunami didn't recognize. They all attempted to greet her, offering their condolences at the woes she'd gone through and assuring her that she was now safe in the Deep Palace. Tsunami realized that she hadn't told anyone, not even Coral, that her stay was temporary. They all thought she'd returned for good, to take her place as princess of the tribe. Not just the council, but all the Seawings—she noticed many of the soldiers and servants giving her looks of awe and pride.

 _They love me,_ she thought. _They want me as their princess. They want me to stay._ She certainly wished she could, but she knew she couldn't, not while Blister threatened the surface. _I'll have to leave them, again. And who knows when I'll be able to return?_

She felt like more of a deserter than Webs.

Speaking of which…where was he? Tsunami glanced around the feast. They'd all finished eating by this point, and now a group of dancers entertained them while the servants cleared the dishes away. The dancers—all female Seawings—twirled and pirouetted above them, their scales lighting as they danced around each other, telling a story as they moved. A reenactment, she heard someone say, of one of Coral's stories. While everyone watched the fascinating display, Tsunami scanned the crowd for any sign of Webs, to no avail. She spotted Shark at the far end of the table, next to Moray; both were too busy watching the show to notice her covert glances.

 _If they've thrown him in the dungeons, I swear…_

Silently she snuck away from the feast, heading for the inner bowels of the palace. In the Summer Palace, Coral had kept prisoners on a series of eel-infested islands. Here, she wasn't sure what the dungeons were like, but if she had to guess they'd probably be near the bottom of the palace. So she followed the intricate maze of hallways down, toward where the coral structure met the seabed. After wandering about for a while she eventually came to an underwater cave guarded by a pair of soldiers. They looked at her quizzically, obviously wondering what the princess of the Seawings was doing down here.

 _Did Shark bring Webs down here?_ She signaled by way of greeting.

There was a pause, before one of the guards replied, _He did. But from what I've heard, it seemed he requested to come down here._

That was a surprise. _He wanted to come down here? Why?_

The guard shrugged. _Something about seeing his son. He's still in there now—we have a couple more guards in there to make sure he and his son aren't hatching any schemes. Would you like to see them for yourself?_

She nodded, and the guards led her into the dark cavern. Tiny fluorescent jellyfish and glowing anemones provided the only source of light as they wound their way deeper into the tunnel. Eventually they entered a large room lined with several small cells, each with a large wall of coral obstructing the entrance. Only one cell was occupied—Tsunami saw two more guards standing by the coral door, and behind them were two dark shapes lit by occasional strips of light. The lights stopped flashing as soon as Tsunami and her guards entered.

 _Guards? I'd like a moment to speak with Webs and Riptide,_ said Tsunami.

They hesitated a moment, but soon bowed to her with quick flashes of, _As you wish._ They filed out of the cavern, leaving Tsunami alone with Webs and a very guilty-looking Riptide.

 _Webs, Riptide,_ she said, coming up to the jail door. _Are you alright?_

 _We're fine,_ said Webs. _I asked Shark to take me to see Riptide when your meeting with Coral dragged on. Don't worry, they aren't keeping me in here. They'll let me out when we're finished._

 _They'd better._ Tsunami turned her attention to Riptide, who looked away meekly. _And you, squid brain. Would you care to explain why you ran off to Coral on your own?_

 _Tsunami,_ Riptide flashed, his scales roiling in a wave of light that resembled her namesake. She barely suppressed the shiver that passed down her spine. _Focus,_ she thought. _You can ogle all you want later._

 _I…I'm sorry,_ he said, ducking his head, and his next words came out in a rapid-fire string of flashes. _I thought I could convince Coral, I thought she would listen to me. It's just, you were working so hard in the Mud Kingdom, and I wanted to show you I could do the same. Moorhen needed you to fight, and I didn't have much to do in camp, so I thought I could maybe…I don't know…give it a shot?_

He met her eyes with his, a silent plea in them. _Oh now that's just unfair,_ thought Tsunami, _he knows that works too well on me._

Sure enough her anger vaporized, replaced with annoyance. _Well alright, Riptide. But I still think you should've told me before you left._

Webs smiled, patting Riptide's wing. _That's her way of saying she missed you._

Tsunami pouted, hoping they couldn't see her flush with embarrassment. _I did not! It was only a week, and I was too busy being angry at Riptide's stupidity._

Webs' smile only grew more mischievous. Tsunami didn't like where this was going.

 _I told you, son. You have no reason to worry._

 _Really?_ Riptide looked unsure.

 _Oh, I'd wager she'd follow you to the very ends of the ocean._

 _What's_ that _supposed to mean, Webs?_ She would have shaken him by the horns were it not for the coral door separating them.

 _Nothing, Tsunami. Riptide and I were just talking about you before you came._

She growled. _You were talking about me?_

 _Among other things, yes._ Webs shifted to a more comfortable position, his bones creaking quietly in the silence underwater. _Did you get to speak to Coral about joining the war?_

Tsunami fidgeted. _I did. She's…she hasn't made any decisions yet. It's a lot to take in at once._

Webs nodded sagely. _I'm sure she'll come around in time. For now, just keep talking to her about it._ He scratched at the seabed, churning up a small cloud of particles. _How did she react to me coming?_

She cocked her head. _Well, she isn't pleased about it, but I think I can still vouch for you. You were right, Webs. My mother seems more concerned with protecting my sisters and me than anything else._ She recalled the look of terror in Coral's eyes earlier that evening. Whatever it was, she had to get to the bottom of it.

 _Well,_ said Webs. _If you're mother is feeling agreeable, then we might be able to get an audience with her to plead our case. It isn't much, but it's a start._

Suddenly Tsunami heard water rushing behind her. She turned to see Moray enter the cavern with two guards in tow. She scowled at Tsunami, and flashed her scales brightly.

 _Princess. We've come to retrieve the traitor and bring him to his quarters for the night._

 _His name is Webs. Show some respect._ Tsunami was getting really sick of everyone's attitude toward Webs.

Moray lifted her head. _I show respect to dragons who deserve it. Guards, bring him out._

One of the guards unlocked the door and let Webs out. He looked back with a sad glance at Riptide, as if sorry he couldn't take his son's place, before slinking out and following one of the guards up the tunnel. The other turned to lock the door.

 _Wait,_ signaled Tsunami, feeling brash. _Let me in._

Moray glared at her. _What?_

 _I'd like to speak with the prisoner. Privately._

 _What for?_

 _Does it matter?_

Moray grimaced. _I'm the warden. Her Majesty personally assigned me to keep track of the prisoner._

Tsunami snarled. _And I'm the princess._ _If my mother takes issue with this than I'll answer to her. Now let me in._

Grumbling, Moray and the other guard backed off, allowing Tsunami to casually swim into the enclosure. _Five minutes,_ flashed Moray, before she and the guard swam off.

 _Tsunami,_ flashed Riptide. _Why—_

His words were silenced as Tsunami tackled him, burying him in a tight embrace. Shocked stiff at first, he hesitantly returned her embrace.

Gills flared, heart pounding, Tsunami slowly pried herself from Riptide, but kept her claws on his shoulders. _Riptide…I meant what I said earlier. The next time you do something this idiotic, tell me, so I can go with you._

He looked downcast. _I just wanted to prove myself to you. To show I can be as strong as you._

 _You don't have to!_ Tsunami noticed herself shaking slightly. _I trust you, Riptide. I believe in you. And I'll stick by you, no matter what. You don't need to throw yourself out on a line to impress me. You already have._

He gazed at her, uncertain yet hopeful. He chuckled, bubbles spilling from his gills. _I thought a princess would be tougher to impress._

 _You squid brain._ Tsunami nuzzled him with her snout. _You don't need to impress a princess. You just need to impress me, an ordinary female Seawing. And you already have._

She released his shoulders and curled up next to him. He gazed endearingly at her. _Father was right,_ he flashed. _You are absolutely infatuated with me._

Tsunami couldn't help but roll her eyes. _He knows too much for his own good. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction, so I waited until he left so I could talk to you._

He nodded, placing a wing over her. They lay in companionable silence for a while, simply glad to be together again.

 _You know, this could work,_ Riptide flashed after a while.

 _What could work?_

 _Us. I talked with father earlier about us, and…he approves._ He looked at her with something akin to disbelief. _Can you imagine it? You, a princess, a Dragon of Destiny, raised by my father for seven years under a mountain, mated to me?_ He shook his head. _It's like something straight out of Coral's romance scrolls._

Tsunami started. _Wait wait wait—mated? You can't be serious._

Riptide's eyes sparkled. _What is this? Are you blushing, Tsunami? What happened to the fearless, hotheaded dragon I knew?_

She swatted him as he rolled away laughing. _Oh shut up, you squid brain. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm barely an adult—not even, actually, not until I turn eight._

He righted himself, calming slightly. _That won't be long now, won't it?_

He was right. Webs had told them once upon a time that the brightest night they'd all hatched on had been in the spring. Another three to four months and Tsunami, by dragon norms, would be considered a full adult.

 _Weird,_ she thought, _I still feel like a dragonet._

More importantly, she'd be eligible for _…that._ Tsunami was mortified by the direction her thoughts were going, and the mental images they were generating.

 _Well, keep your "imagination" to yourself, squid brain,_ she said, then, partially to distract herself, nipped playfully at his neck. _At least for now. We still have a way to go before then._

They certainly did. Heartfelt reunion aside, Tsunami was here on a mission: to convince her mother to join their side and save them from Blister's siege.

It was going to be a tall task indeed. But no matter what, Tsunami vowed to get her friends the help they needed. They were depending on her, their only hope of surviving this wretched war.

One way or another, Tsunami wasn't going to leave the Deep Palace without an army of Seawings following her to battle.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ripnami fans, eat your hearts out. X3

So yeah, here we are in the wonderful Deep Palace again. I realized a bit too late that, since the Deep Palace was deep underwater, Tsunami and all the other Seawings would have to use Aquatic to say everything. This presented two problems. For starters, in the books any lines of Aquatic are printed in italics (i.e. Tsunami when she said she'd protect Auklet's egg). This meant that any dialogue would have to be italicised as well. While it looks fine in Microsoft Word, I'm not entirely sure how easy it will be to read on FFN. So if reading so much slanted text is headache for you guys, do tell me. I'll just switch it to standard quotations instead. It won't be consistent with the book, but I think it's a sacrifice worth making for ease of reading.

The second problem is that Tsunami's Aquatic is, shall we say, not that good. While it's true that Riptide taught Tsunami some Aquatic in _The Lost Heir_ , it doesn't seem to have been enough for Tsunami to become fluent. This posed a significant problem - the only solutions I could think of were either A) make Tsunami sound like a foreign speaker, or B) have Webs teach her before she went to the Deep Palace. Option A would be tough to write, and would more than likely make everything confusing, so I decided to go for option B. It's a plot crutch, I'll admit, and it's a stretch to imagine Tsunami becoming so fluent in only a week, but...I don't know. Let's just assume Tsunami was a good student and Webs was a good teacher. :P

Finally, this chapter actually has a couple of outside references. The title is a reference to the song _A Tale of Sea Dragons_ by Marcus Warner (which I'm currently listening to as I write this). It's a fantastic, uplifting song written by a very talented indie composer, and I felt that it's name fit for this chapter. You can look up the song on Youtube if you want, it's amazing. In addition, Webs' mate's name is a reference to the game _Ecco the Dolphin_ for the Sega Megadrive. I've only ever played the Steam version of it (it's balls to the walls hard), but I thought the name Echo sounded pretty enough to use for Webs' unnamed mate. Huh. Never thought a game about a dolphin saving the world from aliens would ever work its way into one of my stories...

R&R, as always. This chapter was mostly setup; the real action will be coming soon. Hope you guys are excited, cause I am. :)

~SpicyDog99


	21. The Throne of the Deep

The Throne of the Deep

Tsunami woke the next morning feeling confused and disoriented. She lay motionless for a second, eyes wide open, instinctively scanning the area for danger before remembering she was in the Deep Palace, far underwater where none of Blister's soldiers could get her. Exhaling slowly, she pushed to her claws, noticing that she'd messed up her seaweed bed some time during the night. Glancing down at herself, she saw sand clogged between her scales, as if she'd spent the night tossing and turning.

 _Ugh. Better get myself cleaned up._

She began to clean herself, using her claws and tongue to gently tease the grit from her scales. She tried to recall what had gotten her so worked up last night. A nightmare? She must have had one, a vivid one at that, but already the memories were slipping away, leaving uneasy feelings and sensations in their wake. The smell of blood, the scent of fear in the air. Screaming dragons, claws clashing against scales. Cold, goopy mud plastered against her scales, her muscles shaking from exhaustion. And underlying it all was a constant, pervasive paranoia, like someone was lurking over her shoulder, ready to claw her throat out. She shook her head roughly. What was wrong with her?

She finished grooming herself and stretched, eyeing her spacious room in the process. Coral had offered to let her sleep with her, Anemone, and Auklet, like she'd done in the Summer Palace, but Tsunami had turned it down this time. She needed some alone time to think about how she'd approach her mother about all this, and being stuck with her mother didn't sound like much fun either. So last night a guard had shown her to her current room—her room, as it turned out, furnished and prepared specifically for her return. She felt both grateful and guilty, knowing she'd be leaving it soon. She still needed to broach that topic to Coral.

Feeling somewhat presentable, she swam through the halls of the palace and out the entrance, intending to stretch her wings a bit before breakfast. It was still early, the dawn light trickling down to give everything a shadowed texture. The palace grounds were quiet, though Tsunami spotted several servants setting things up for the day, and patrols making their rounds. The place would get crowded later in the day, but for now Tsunami cherished the peace.

She made her way through the canyon, taking in the scenery and flashing greetings to the few passersby. Wandering idly, she found herself outside a squat, coral building with numerous windows built in to let in the morning light. Looking through one window, she noticed the glow of light against the wall—not the dim, dawn light, but the brighter glow of luminescent scales. Curious, she quietly entered the building, hoping she wasn't intruding on something private.

Two rows of seaweed beds lined both walls, though most of them were vacant; Tsunami only saw one that was occupied, and it was at the far end of the building, next to the open window. A Seawing lay on the bed, while two more stood around him, flashing messages between themselves. One of them was a light-pink color.

 _Anemone?_

Puzzled, Tsunami pushed forward, making sure to announce her presence with audible swirls of her wings. The two turned to her—sure enough, one of them was her sister, who looked startled and perhaps a bit embarrassed at seeing Tsunami.

 _Tsunami,_ said Anemone. _I didn't expect to see you here._

 _Morning, Anemone._ Tsunami stopped in front of Anemone, looking between her and the other Seawings. _Did I interrupt something?_

 _Oh, not at all,_ said the other Seawing. _I'm Sunfish,_ _Coral's chief healer. Anemone said she's interested in my trade, and wants to learn from me._

 _Wow,_ said Tsunami. _Mother let you do this?_

 _It took some convincing, but in the end she did._ Anemone scrunched up her face in a wry smile. _I'm not free yet. Mother just lets me join Sunfish every morning for an hour to see her care for the patients. After that, it's back in the harness._ The little Seawing pouted, and Tsunami reached out to pat her.

 _Hey, at least she's giving you_ some _independence now._

 _True._ Anemone glanced at Sunfish, before signaling at the healer. _Sunfish, can I talk to Tsunami for a sec?_

The healer nodded, and Anemone swam out the entrance of the building. Tsunami trailed behind her, wondering what it was her sister wanted to talk about that required swimming to an isolated corner of the canyon, where a tall garden of coral hid them from other Seawings swimming by.

 _Anemone? What is it?_

Anemone fidgeted a bit, folding and refolding her smaller wings, refusing to meet Tsunami's eyes.

 _Anemone._ Tsunami was getting concerned now. _Has someone been forcing you to use your powers?_

Startled, Anemone quickly shook her head, much to Tsunami's relief. _No, it's not about that. But, actually, I've been reading a bit on animus powers while you were gone._

Tsunami cocked an eyebrow. _Really?_

 _Yeah. Whirlpool had a couple scrolls on it, and mother kept them after I…well…_ She trailed off.

 _It's fine, Anemone. Did you learn anything?_

Her blue eyes lit with excitement. _I think so. One of the scrolls had a theory about the animus curse. It said that what an animus uses her powers for affects how quickly the curse happens._ Anemone gulped, before continuing. _It said…it didn't sound very sure, but it said maybe, if an animus uses her powers for good things, like healing or protecting, then the curse won't come as quickly, or never come at all._

Anemone gazed at Tsunami. _Tsunami, do you know what this means? I could use my powers to help dragons, and if I'm careful I might not go crazy in the end._

Tsunami blinked, shaking out of her surprise. _That sounds great! Did you tell mother about this?_

Anemone shook her head. _Not yet. Like I said, it was just a theory. I've wanted to…try it out, to see if it works._ She hesitated. _That's actually why I wanted to work with Sunfish. Maybe, at some point, I can try to use my powers to heal an injury or cure a sickness. But I'm so scared that it won't work._

Anemone sighed nervously, her gills twitching. _Do you think I should try it, Tsunami?_

Tsunami cocked her head. _Do you think mother would let you?_

 _I don't know. She hasn't made me use my powers since the Summer Palace. I think for now she's just forgotten about it. She's more worried about keeping us safe._ She settled her claws in the sand and turned to Tsunami with a new look. _That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about._

 _What? Mother being overprotective?_

 _Yeah. I know mother's always been like this since she's lost eggs to Orca's statue. But ever since we came down here, I feel like she's gotten worse. She still keeps me tied to her, and she has a harness for Auklet as well. She'll never let me out of her sight except to go to Sunfish. And she's just…did you notice it, Tsunami? She's very twitchy now, like everything scares her._

Tsunami nodded, remembering the look of terror she'd seen on her mother's face last night. _I think it was the attack on the Summer Palace. She thought we were all safe from the war, but when the Skywings attacked, I think it shook her sense of security. Has she gone back to the Summer Palace since the attack?_

 _No. She hasn't even sent anyone to check on it—she just wants to stay down here, forever I think._ Anemone swished her tail around, worrying at the tip with her talons. _When you said yesterday that you needed mother's help to fight Blister, did you really mean it?_

 _I meant it, Anemone, every word. I have to admit, I left out some of the nastier details last night so I wouldn't scare mother too much. Things in the Mud Kingdom are getting really bad. I was hoping Ruby would be more help, but I don't think_ she _will last much longer either._ Tsunami laid a claw against her snout, rubbing it irritably. _Why do you ask? You don't think mother will budge?_

She found it very worrying that Anemone replied without hesitation, _No, she won't. All three of her daughters are down here with her in a palace that no one else can reach. Mother won't leave, not if it means putting us in danger. She has no reason to—all she wants is for us to be safe._ Anemone flicked her tail away. _Even if it means forgetting about the rest of Pyrrhia._

It was precisely the opposite of what Tsunami wanted to hear. So, naturally, she tried to argue against it. _Well, not if I have anything to say about it. I'm getting mother to help us in the war, even if I have to drag her all the way to the Mud Kingdom to show how bad things are. I'm not letting mother hide down here while my friends die on the surface. In fact, that's all I'll be doing here for my stay. That, and getting Webs and Riptide freed._

Anemone started. _Wait. You aren't staying?_

Tsunami blinked. _No. I'm not letting my friends die without helping them. Once I convince mother to send her Seawings to help us, I'll lead the army to the Mud Kingdom and fight with them._ She noticed Anemone's scared look, and said, _Look. I know everyone wants me to finally settle in and be a pretty princess, but I can't do that yet. You know me; I don't leave things unfinished. And I definitely have some unfinished business with Blister._

Anemone's gaze hardened. _Well, I'm coming with you then._

 _What?!_ Tsunami scales flickered in shock. _But Anemone, it's dangerous up there. This isn't some small border skirmish, it's an all-out war._

 _So? You aren't letting mother stop you from going back to fight. So why can't I?_ Her pale-pink frill ruffled, and Tsunami was suddenly reminded of herself. _Maybe while I'm out there I can try using my powers to help dragons. Help the healers or something. You've done so much, Tsunami, you've seen so many things. I want to do it too._

Tsunami gulped. Her scales stayed dark as she wrestled with what to say.

 _Tsunami?_ Anemone laid a claw on her foreleg. _You won't do that to me, right?_

 _No, never, I—_ Tsunami closed her eyes, fighting to contain the turmoil of emotions roiling through her. She loved her sister as much as she loved her friends. The thought of Anemone throwing herself onto the battlefield, of her suffering what she was going through…No, she couldn't let that happen. Anemone didn't deserve that kind of life.

But who was she to dictate her sister's life?

 _I'll sound like mother if I tell you to stay, won't I?_

Anemone didn't respond, but Tsunami could see the answer clear on her pale face.

Sighing, Tsunami smiled sadly.

 _You know, talking with you is like talking into a mirror._

Anemone trilled, her scales sparkling in mirth. _I think it runs in the family._

 _I bet it does. Anyway, if you want to come with me when I leave, then I'll let you. Just…make sure you're ready for it. I can't hold your claw every day while we're on the surface. You'll have to learn to take care of yourself. As for mother, give me some time. I'll persuade her soon enough._

 _You sure?_

Tsunami nodded. _I'm sure. I'll work it out._

* * *

 _This isn't working._

Tsunami stormed into her room and flopped down on the seaweed bed. Across the room, Riptide, who'd been gazing out the window, turned to her, eyebrow cocked.

 _Do I dare ask how the talk with your mother went?_

Tsunami seethed, claws clenching the sand beneath her.

 _She's not even listening, Riptide! I've told her again and again how things are in the Mud Kingdom. All of it now, even the bloody details. And she still won't budge. She keeps saying, "Oh, it's safer down here Tsunami, why don't you stay here, everyone loves you and you won't have to fight anyone and yadda yadda yadda!" Then she says she's busy and doesn't have time to talk._ Frustrated, she smacked a nearby chunk of coral, launching it across the room.

 _Sounds like Coral alright,_ said Riptide. _Let me guess. She was busy writing another scroll?_

Tsunami snorted, bubbles encasing her in a temporary veil. _I think she's just using it as an excuse to avoid me. I don't even know what she's writing this time. Some new romance scroll, or something._

Riptide nodded. _It's a Truth or Dare._

Tsunami turned to him slowly. _What?_

 _That's what she's writing, from what the servants say. Some new idea of hers—take a bunch of her characters from previous stories, put them in a room together, and have them answer questions and do crazy things._

Tsunami shook her head in disbelief. _Sounds stupid._

 _It's popular, apparently,_ said Riptide, shrugging. _Lots of Seawings are already sending in suggestions. Anyway, your mother's writing aside, you haven't made any progress?_

Tsunami laid her head down, only lifting her claw to form an "O" with her talons. _Zip. The most I've done is get her to release you._

In fact, Coral had been surprisingly nonchalant about letting Riptide go. Her second day at the Deep Palace, Tsunami had mentioned it to her mother, expecting her to be as stubborn with it as she was with helping in the war. On the contrary, she'd practically handed Tsunami the keys to the dungeon cells.

 _Just make sure he doesn't come back, dear_ , she'd said. _Him and his father. They're getting rather annoying._ It almost seemed as if Coral had used Riptide just to lure Tsunami back home.

It had been three days since then. Four days since she'd left the Mud Kingdom, and she promised her friends a week was all she needed.

She was beginning to think no amount of time could solve this problem.

Riptide smiled sadly, swimming over to Tsunami's side. _Well, it's a start. She doesn't know about us?_

 _No, and thank the moons for it. She'd probably have a heart attack._

That was the other reason Tsunami was beginning to detest her stay in the Deep Palace. The incident with Whirlpool hadn't been enough to dissuade Coral from playing matchmaker with her daughter. Every day Coral insisted on introducing her to a cast of eligible Seawing bachelors, from high-ranking military officers and strutting, macho soldiers, to tier-climbing socialites and snooty aristocrats. It was enough to make Tsunami flee to her room most days, where Riptide stayed to avoid Coral's attention.

Not that she minded. She could shamelessly admit to herself that Riptide was her only source of sanity in this place. And happiness. Lot's of happiness. What would she do without him?

 _Provided we keep things quiet,_ said Riptide, _I think we can get away with it._

She poked him in the side. _I'm perfectly fine. You're the one who needs to watch it, Mr. Touchy Claws._

He lifted his head haughtily. _I have no clue what you're talking about, Tsunami._

They quieted, the fun moment passing swiftly.

 _What do I do, Riptide?_ Tsunami scales flashed dimly, her mood somber. _I've done everything I can think of—I've talked to her, yelled at her, begged her for help, you name it. I even tried to bribe mother, promising her there'd be lots of treasure once we defeat Blister. And no one else will stand up to her. Shark and Moray are too loyal, and the rest are either sucking up to her or are too scared to oppose her._

Tsunami buried her snout between her claws, closing her eyes. _It's hopeless, Riptide. Mother won't even talk to me anymore. This time she told_ me _to scram. I think I've reached the end of her good will._

She wanted so much to love Coral. Of all of her friends, she felt that she'd pulled the lucky straw when it came to her parents. Clay and Glory's parents didn't care about them, and Starflight's dad had a questionable set of ethics. Thorn was alright, if maybe a bit blunt at times. Only Tsunami had been lucky enough to have a queen for a mother. And yet, her experiences with her mother were really changing her perception. It was bad enough that Blister had managed to manipulate Coral so thoroughly when Tsunami first visited the Summer Palace earlier in the year. But now, it seemed, Coral was letting fear rule her every decision. Everything she did—from staying in the Deep Palace, to avoiding all contact with the surface, to insisting that Tsunami stay—pointed to one thing.

Coral, Queen of the Seawings, was a coward.

And no matter how hard she tried, Tsunami couldn't get her mother to confess what was scaring her. Any time she asked Coral what was wrong the queen would either clam up or redirect the conversation. Tsunami could sense it clear as day that something was wrecking her mother from the inside, and she could do nothing about it.

She was at her wits' end. She'd exhausted every possible option left to her…

…except for one.

Riptide glanced at Tsunami, sensing a change. _Tsunami?_

She lifted her head, and signaled her reply.

 _My mother is too scared to lead the Seawings properly. I've done everything I can to change her mind, but she refuses to do anything but hide here in the Deep Palace._

She carefully flashed her next set of words.

 _I promised to bring my friends reinforcements, no matter the cost._

Her scales faded, and silence fell between them. Slowly she turned to Riptide. His eyes were wide in shock.

 _Tsunami…You…you can't seriously…_ His gills flapped in visible horror. _Are you sure about this?_

 _What choice do I have, Riptide?_ She twined her tail with his, letting him sense her fear and anger. _My mother has cast her lot. She's left me no alternative._

She felt herself torn between sobbing and raging. _I don't want to do this, Riptide. I've already had to kill my own father._ She looked him in the eye, snout barely a talon's length from his.

 _But if it's the only way I can protect my friends and free Pyrrhia…then so be it._

She felt spent. Truth was, the thought had been worming its way through her brain ever since her conversation with Anemone the morning after she'd arrived, and had only sunk deeper and deeper into her thoughts with each passing day.

 _Oh, bright moons,_ she thought suddenly, _how am I going to tell Anemone? And Auklet?_

 _Don't_ , a part of her said. The cold part, the part beaten and hammered by the harsh brutality of war. _The less they know, the better things will be. Hopefully you can resolve this before either can react._

She hated that part of herself. She hated herself, for even considering the idea in her mind.

She was still determined to do it.

 _Tsunami._ Riptide brought her out of her self-loathing. _Listen. If you're going to do this, at least give you're mother one more chance. Talk to her again over dinner. Tell her this is absolutely important. Tell her that everyone her daughter cares about is in danger._

Tsunami looked away, unable to meet his eyes. _You think I haven't tried?_

 _Just give her one final chance. Please, what you're suggesting…it's not going to go over well with the tribe. Lots of things will happen, and once you start there's no going back._ Riptide grabbed Tsunami firmly by the shoulders and turned her to meet his gaze.

 _And if she still refuses?_

He breathed out, looking calm despite the visible sadness in his eyes.

 _If she still refuses…then I won't stop you._

She held his gaze. He meant every word of it, despite the creeping anguish in his eyes.

Without a word they curled up together on the seaweed bed, his wing draped over her, though Tsunami found little comfort in it now that a hard knot of dread had formed in her stomach.

She knew she was doing the right thing, for her friends and for the rest of Pyrrhia. Even Riptide had given his permission.

But he was going to hurt the most if things went wrong.

She suppressed a cry of sorrow. Why did it all have to hurt so much?

* * *

Her mother was dining with her council tonight, wishing to discuss tribe business and hear the monthly reports. Normally Tsunami would have opted to skip such a meal and eat on her own, or, if her mother insisted on her attendance, go to dinner and pretend to pay attention until she could leave.

Tonight, she headed straight for the dining hall.

She'd kept her plans between herself and Riptide, though she'd allowed Riptide to at least tell his father. In the event that things didn't go as planned, she hoped the two of them could at least escape and make their lives elsewhere in Pyrrhia.

As if Riptide could have a happy life if she failed at this.

Dinner began normally. Coral didn't always hold extravagant feasts, only for special occasions, like holidays or the return of wayward princesses. Nevertheless the meals were prepared meticulously, and tonight was no different. Servants brought out platters of mahi mahi, bass, fried octopi, and assorted deep ocean treats harvested from the yawning trenches further out to sea. The aroma wafted through the water, and Coral wasted no time, letting everyone dig in.

Tsunami bit down on a fish. It tasted like sand.

Soon Coral called out her council members to give their reports. Shark began, reciting the patrol duties and recruitment numbers in his deep droning voice. Several times he looked over at her, and she wondered if he could scent treason in the water like his namesake could sense blood.

Tsunami kept her head in her food, and Shark eventually finished. The rest of the dragons gave their reports, and soon the meal was finished. Coral kept on speaking with her council as the servants cleared away the dishes. Through it all Tsunami remained stoic and silent. Waiting, waiting, for the time to come.

She didn't have long to wait.

 _Now then_ , said Coral at last. _I believe that's all the business we have for tonight. Lagoon, make sure the sea cucumber farmers are well compensated for their excellent work this month. Other than that, I believe we may adjourn for—_

 _Mother._

A dozen set of eyes turned to her. Tsunami fought to keep her dinner down.

Coral cocked her head. _Yes, daughter?_

She breathed slowly, forcing her gills to remain flat. _Stay calm,_ she thought. _Just bring it up one last time. Maybe this time she'll see sense._

 _I'd like to talk, again, about the Seawings joining the war._

The dragons around her groaned. They'd sat through more than one of Tsunami's talks with her mother, and were fed up with her constantly bringing up the topic.

Not as fed up as her mother, though.

 _Tsunami,_ she flashed, her eyes narrowing in a rare show of anger. _If you mention that cursed war one more time—_

 _Please, mother, just hear me out._ She held up her claws in what she hoped was a sign of submission. She really wished Sunny were here right now.

 _I've said it MANY times before, Tsunami, and I'll say it again._ Coral jabbed a talon against the stone table. _What happens on the surface no longer concerns the Seawings._

 _It_ does _, mother, no matter how much you deny it. I know you only want to protect us but hiding us down here is not the solution._

Coral scoffed. _What do you know about solutions, Tsunami? You aren't even an adult yet._

 _I will be soon. And I've seen far more of Pyrrhia then you have, mother. I know that the land is in danger as long as Blister is alive. I know my friends will die if I don't bring them help._

She stood her front claws on the table, the better to match her mother's size and command a presence in the hall. Distantly she noticed a couple of servants peeking in, wondering at the ruckus.

 _Mother. I was fighting on the front lines of the war when I got the message that Riptide had gone to seek your help. I was hungry, cold, exhausted, and knee deep in mud. Blister's Sandwings were pushing close, and Queen Moorhen wanted me to remain, to help hold the line with the few soldiers she had left under her command._

 _I could have stayed in camp, could have tried to protect my friends there._ Tsunami leaned forward. _But I didn't, because I knew that Riptide was right._ You _are the only hope for Pyrrhia, mother. The Seawings are the only tribe left that is strong enough to match Blister's forces. So I left my friends, left them to fight Blister alone, to come down here and BEG you to help us. Mother, please. I'm asking because we have no other choice. Either the Seawings go to war, or my friends die and Blister rules the surface._

She spun around to face the other council members. _We may be different tribes, but at the end of the day we are all dragons. All of us—Skywings, Sandwings, Icewings, Mudwings, even the Rainwings and Nightwings. And Seawings. We are all dragons of Pyrrhia. This is our land, our home, our place to give to our dragonets, our future for them and their descendants. Right now, that future is at stake. Blister will not stop until every tribe has been crushed or absorbed into her regime. She threatens the lives of every dragon—and yes, that includes us. We cannot hide forever down here, as much as we want to. Sooner or later Blister will find a way to harm us. And when she does, there will be no one left in Pyrrhia to help us in our time of need._

This speech was exhausting. She was never the wordy dragon, preferring the thrill of physical battle to the subtlety or persuasion. Maybe Sunny and Glory could talk circles around others, but she just wanted to get this over with.

 _Mother._ She gazed at Coral, whose face was an expressionless mask. _You have the power to dictate Pyrrhia's future. You can ensure Blister does not win. Please. I need your help. We all need your help. Join us, and help us defeat the Queen of Poison before it's too late._

Her scales dimmed from her last flash, and she sat back on the sand, waiting for her mother's reply. The hall was silent, not just of flashes, but of any noise. It seemed not a single Seawing's gills even twitched as they all held their breaths, awaiting Coral's reaction.

Coral was motionless for a long time. Her gills moved up and down, her breathing even and measured. Then, she spread her massive wings, and Tsunami couldn't help but back up a step. Her face was hard, a cold glint in her eyes.

 _You think I haven't considered this, Tsunami? What do you take me for, a year-old hatchling? I have spent decades in this world, daughter. I've seen tribes rise and fall on the whims of tyrant queens. I've seen numerous wars and conflicts even before that wretched spat between Oasis's daughters. I know what war does. I'm not ignorant to its toll on dragons._

 _Then certainly you agree—_

 _I haven't agreed to anything, Tsunami. This idiotic war that you and your friends started with Blister, it was completely unnecessary! Things were about to end peacefully after twenty long years, and what did you do? Why, you provoked the scorpion in its den, of course, and came crying to me when it stung you._

Coral pointed an accusing talon at Tsunami. _Look around you, Tsunami. The Seawings are a healthy, happy tribe. Why? Because I've refused to let the other tribes drag us into their petty issues. The Seawings are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves without the help of other dragons. In fact, I'd say our cousins across the continent are nothing but a threat to the peace and security we've created here in the Deep Palace._

 _Don't you see? You aren't saving Pyrrhia, Tsunami. You're needlessly endangering yourself and your tribe for the sake of your "freedom" and "future". Tell me, are you truly thinking of the tribe's future? Or just your own? Are you going to be a respectable leader one day to these loyal dragons? Or are you going to traipse off across Pyrrhia and leave your citizens to fend for themselves, like you've done for the past half-year?_

 _Who will you be, Tsunami? The queen your tribe needs? Or a selfish dragonet who cares only for her personal glory?_

Tsunami couldn't respond. Her scales felt like they were boiling off as she fought to keep her shock and fury in check. Every one of her mother's words was another stab in her chest, another claw rending her flesh in half. How could she? How could she remain so blind?

 _Because she wants to,_ said the cold part of her again. _It's easier for her not to see, than to face the consequences of her actions._

She heaved a sigh from deep in her chest, bubbles cascading around her. She had only one last question for her mother.

 _And my friends, mother? What about them?_

Coral reared up, and looked down her snout at Tsunami.

 _No daughter of mine places her friends, however dear, before the needs of the tribe._

And with that sentence, Tsunami knew her course of action was set.

She lifted her head and met her mother's hard eyes.

 _Then I am no daughter of yours._

Before anyone could react, before she could think of changing her mind, Tsunami furled her wings open and flashed:

 _Queen Coral, I challenge you for the throne of the Seawings._

* * *

 **A/N:** Yikes. What is this, Game of Thrones all of a sudden? Though I suppose the Targaryens would fit in well in this world...

So yeah. Things have gone real south between Tsunami and Coral. I hope neither is too OOC...I know Coral is portrayed in the books as willing to do anything for her dragonets, but my interpretation of her, at least for this story, is a little different. It's no secret that Coral is terrified of losing any more of her dragonets, too the point that she'd go to ridiculous lengths just to protect them. Or, at least, to give herself peace of mind. Coral's actually being quite selfish with her "love", if you get what I mean. She doesn't do what's best for her dragonets, because she's more concerned with keeping herself together. I hope that isn't too much a stretch to believe. I want to give characters like Coral more depth, and that means exploring the things that burden them. We'll see more of what's going on in Coral's head later on, and maybe get some answers finally to her fear.

Now, before I forget, there's something I must mention. I suppose this is shameful self-promotion...but eh, whatever. I recently wrote a short one-shot for the Summer King Chronicles and posted it to this site yesterday. What's the Summer King Chronicles, I hear you ask? Well, it's a fantastic book series starring griffins, and that's all I'll say. If you want further details I have a rambling blog on my profile where I talk about my progress on _UaWTS_ and my thoughts on what I'll do after I'm done with this story. I mention SKC in that post, and while I did say that I wouldn't write anything fanfiction for it until after the series is completed...I, uh, maybe got a bit enthusiastic and went through with it anyway. :L Oh well. It was good practice, and while no fandom for SKC exists on this site yet (I've put in a request for it), that doesn't mean I can't at least get a head start. For now it's in the misc. book section. I'll move it over if FFN does grant my request.

Well, that's it for tonight. I know this is a cliffhanger, and I hate leaving cliffhangers, so I'll see if I can update before next week. Don't count on it thought, finals are coming up and I _really_ need to study. XP Urghh, life of a college student.

~SpicyDog99

 _P.S. And yes, I did poke fun at Truth or Dare fics earlier with Riptide's comment. Seriously though, why are there so many of them in this fandom?_


	22. Ultimatum

Ultimatum

Silence.

Then, so low Tsunami felt it more than she heard it, Coral growled menacingly. Her scales flashed, bright and sharp, harsh spots of light in the dark hall.

 _You dare? After all that has happened…you dare challenge me for the throne?_

Shark surged from his seat, throwing himself between Coral and Tsunami. Around them the other council members scattered, huddling along the walls and behind the tables to avoid what they saw as an inevitable fight. A servant rushed out the door, most likely to call the guards.

 _I knew it. I knew she was a traitor all along._ Shark bared his long rows of teeth at Tsunami, then turned to Coral. _Sister, I've been suspicious of your daughter since the day she first arrived—_

 _Shark!_ Tsunami lunged forward, but Shark effortlessly caught her talons and shoved her back against the table. _Stand aside. This is between Coral and me. It doesn't concern you._

 _This doesn't concern me?_ Shark opened his jaws wide and roared, his call bellowing far in the thick water. Outside, Tsunami heard a commotion, cries of alarm that something was happening in the Palace.

 _You've threatened my queen, challenged her throne as a usurper. It absolutely concerns me. If you want the Seawing throne, you'll have to go through_ me _to get it._

 _Father!_ Tsunami turned and saw Moray hurtle through the door. _What's going on?_

 _This traitor,_ Shark jabbed a talon at Tsunami, who hissed in response, _would rather see herself on Coral's throne than accept her title as princess. She wants to plunge the tribe into war again!_

 _You're wrong. Shark,_ Tsunami scrambled to face the Seawing commander, _you of all dragons know how strong the Seawings are right now. I've seen our numbers—we have more than thirty flights of strong, trained troops. Blister has nothing close to that, and her troops have been fighting for months on—_

Shark made a motion with his claw—a circle, ending with his talons clenched in a fist. Too late, Tsunami realized what it meant as a pair of claws clamped down on each of her wings, dragging her painfully out the hall.

 _Why won't you listen?_ Tsunami thrashed against her captors, only for them to clamp down harder. _None of you will accept the truth. Why? Why do you insist on hiding?_

 _Silence, traitor. Save your screaming for the dungeons,_ flashed Moray, cuffing Tsunami on the head.

Dazed yet resolute, Tsunami shook off the blow and flashed, as brightly as she could:

 _Why are you all moons-begotten cowards?!_

She clawed at the sand, shoved against Moray and the guards, doing everything in her power to shake them off, to no avail. Tsunami screamed. They were never going to let her challenge Coral. She'd been a fool to think that a tribe that loved their queen _this_ much would ever let—

A massive roar shook the entire palace, followed by a blinding flash of scales.

 _ENOUGH._

Stunned, Moray halted, Tsuanmi still squirming in her grasp, as Coral crossed the hall and stopped before them. Shark hovered protectively by her side, alternating between curious glances at Coral and furious glares at Tsunami.

 _Tsunami of the Seawings._ Coral lowered her head until she was barely a talon's width from Tsunami's snout. _You call me a coward?_

Heart hammering, Tsunami gulped. She could barely manage to control her glowing scales.

 _Yes._

Contempt filled Coral's expression.

 _Then, as queen of the Seawings, I am obliged to prove you wrong._

She stepped back, eyeing the growing crowd. The council, the guards, a huge mass of scared looking servants crammed into the hallways beyond. All watching, all listening, for their queen's next words.

 _Tomorrow. Noon. The Cage. We will settle this permanently._

A look of shock passed over Shark's face. _Coral, you don't mean to fight this traitor yourself?_

Coral turned an impatient eye on Shark. _Do you have another suggestion, brother?_

 _Let me fight for you,_ said Moray, releasing Tsunami and swimming over to stand proudly before Coral. _Let me be your champion. I'll end this miserable traitor dies quickly in the arena._

 _No._ Coral silenced all protests, glaring around her before settling on Tsunami. _Tsunami has challenged my honor with claims of cowardice. I will fight her personally, prove her wrong…and kill her with my own two claws._

With a flap of her massive wings, Coral pushed past Tsunami and into the hall, where the guards and servants quickly made way for her as she swam back to her quarters.

Tsunami floated motionless in the water, her heart a maelstrom of shock, relief, sorrow, and dread.

Tomorrow. Noon. The Cage.

One of them would be queen…

… and the other, fish food.

* * *

Shark had immediately sent out messengers to all corners of the kingdom, calling all Seawings to bear witness to a challenge for the throne. The palace and the surrounding grounds were abuzz with nervous tension, rumors and whispers flying everywhere. Dragons gathered outside the palace, huddled in families and troops, morbidly curious to hear more details. Shark quickly had his soldiers disperse the crowds, though Seawings lingered, gossiping excitedly.

Coral had retreated to her chambers, and Tsunami left her there; she had no wish to confront her mother about her choices tonight, nor face more of her wrath. It also meant she could hide from Anemone for a bit longer, and put off explaining to her why she challenged Coral.

 _You mean you're scared of her,_ she thought to herself. _Of telling her the truth._

 _And you call Coral a coward._

She slept poorly that night, curled up next to Riptide. Dragons swam before her eyes, drilling her with accusing looks, whispering, _Murderer, murderer._ In her dreams she ran from them, and eventually fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, after a bland tasting breakfast, Riptide insisted that Tsunami at least practice a bit before the challenge. Fighting underwater was very different from fighting on the surface, and he wanted her to be prepared for anything. It felt wrong to Tsunami, as if she were going through her daily routine in the Mud Kingdom rather than preparing to kill her own mother in single combat. But she didn't voice her doubts, not even to Riptide. She'd already plunged headfirst over the waterfall, and there was no climbing back up—only a long, painful tumble to the bottom.

 _The one thing you must remember,_ said Riptide, _is that everything is slower, more deliberate. Water is thicker than air. It'll take more effort to make fast movements, and you'll be slower to react to incoming attacks._ He circled around her, Tsunami following his movements.

He lunged, and while Tsunami saw his move easily enough, she wasn't quick enough to get away. He struck her against her neck, turning his claws to avoid drawing blood.

 _Plan your strategy beforehand. Predict what your opponent's next move will be. If you only react, then you'll always be too late to dodge or block._

They spent the morning at the training grounds. They drew looks as they sparred, and it wasn't long before a sizeable crowd assembled, nosily watching the princess turned challenger for the throne. Webs, who'd accompanied them down to the training grounds to watch, tried to disperse them at first, but Tsunami stopped him. They deserved to see the dragon who challenged their queen's regency, and it felt pointless to hide now when she'd be fighting before the entire tribe in a matter of hours. Tsunami simply ignored the curious eyes, focusing only on improving her skills as much as she could.

Noon came sooner than she'd wished, though secretly Tsunami was glad that the waiting was finally over. Her constant anxiety had worn on her, and all she wanted now was to end it.

 _It's time,_ said Riptide, as they saw dragons leave the palace, heading out toward the open ocean where the arena lay. Bright sunlight filtered down through the water, painting the Deep Palace in bright light, oblivious to the pain and violence that was soon to unfold beneath the waves.

 _It is,_ she replied. _Anything else I should know before we go?_

He cocked his head. _A couple things. Don't let Coral get above you. She's much bigger and heavier than you, and you don't want her to pin you down. Stay out of her reach, use your agility to avoid her attacks, and strike when she's overextended and left herself vulnerable._

He looked away.

 _And…remember Orca._

Tsunami blinked. _Orca?_

Riptide nodded at Tsunami's tail, and she got the message.

 _The narwhal horn._

He nodded. _Coral would have died to Orca were it not for that horn. It was pure luck that the horn saved her life. This time, Coral will make sure to use her advantage as best as she can._

Silence fell between them. Now that the memories had stirred, Tsunami couldn't help but think of Orca, of the statue that had slain so many of her unhatched sisters, and that had nearly killed Auklet. She would never do anything like that, but that gave her little consolation in the face of what she was about to do.

 _Who will you be, Tsunami? The queen your tribe needs? Or a selfish dragonet who cares only for her personal glory?_

Seeing her worried look, Riptide swam over and nuzzled her gently. It was the first time he'd shown any affection toward her in public, and while Tsunami knew they should've been keeping their relationship private, she couldn't find it in herself to care at the moment. So she nuzzled him in return, and the intimate moment calmed her racing heart a bit.

He wrapped his wings around her, hiding them from prying eyes.

 _Tsunami._

She met his eyes, and her tough exterior fell away. She closed her eyes, shuddering.

 _Riptide…I'm scared. I'm scared of Coral. I'm scared of what this will do to Anemone and Auklet, what they'll think of me after this. I'm scared the Seawings will hate me and exile me. I'm…I'm scared I'm doing the wrong thing._

She burrowed her chest into the crook between his wing and neck. A sob broke from her chest. She could barely flash her next words.

 _How did it come to this?_

Riptide held her silently, laying his head over her neck, gently stroking her back with his claw. He pulled her from his embrace, and made sure she could see his next words.

 _Tsunami, I won't pretend to know the answer to that question. I didn't want things to happen like this anymore than you did. But they did, and the only thing we can do now is go forward with the current._

 _But I do know this. You are strong, brave, and utterly loyal to the dragons you care about. You stand up for what's right, even if it hurts you to do so. You'd sacrifice yourself to keep everyone you love safe. You are everything a dragon queen should be, and I am humbled to hold your trust._

 _Tsunami…_ He pressed his snout to her forehead, before pulling back. _Whatever happens today, I want you to know that I'm proud of you and what you've accomplished. I've never met a dragon as wonderful as you, and I doubt I ever will again. I will stand by you, no matter what happens._

Tsunami lifted her eyes to his.

 _And if I die?_

He withdrew his wings. His eyes never left hers.

 _I will never regret loving you._

They were words that she'd secretly hoped to hear from him for so long. Yet now that they'd been spoken, she felt not happiness, but gut-wrenching guilt.

Riptide had placed his fate in her claws. It was either her mother's life…or his.

 _Come,_ he said, unfurling his wings. _It's time._

* * *

 _The Cage. What a fitting name_ , thought Tsunami as she, Riptide, and Webs arrived at the arena. Perched on the edge of the continental shelf, where the seabed dropped off into the murky depth that was the open ocean, the Cage struck an imposing figure against the navy blue of the water beyond. Built years ago by a Seawing queen who may or may not have been inspired by the Skywings' arena, the Cage consisted of large blocks of coral woven and crisscrossed into a structure that looked like a giant, upside-down bird's nest. Unlike the Deep Palace, which had colorful rooms of coral taken from multiple reefs up and down the coast, the Cage's coral was bleached white. Webs told Tsunami that the Cage was often exposed to the cold currents of the ocean, and as such the coral planted here had died and become brittle. The coral looked like enormous dragon bones, and it left a foreboding pit in her stomach.

Seawings from far and wide had come, swarming the Cage like bees around a honeycomb. Most of the ringside seats had already been claimed, eager spectators clutching the coral bars, ready to see blood spilt. Her blood, Tsunami reminded herself; Coral was a popular queen, and most sympathized with her, the honorable, caring mother who'd been backstabbed by a power hungry daughter. She saw Coral's council on one side of the cage, Shark and Moray giving her the most hate-filled glares a dragon could give. Beyond the ringside seats, the tribe spread out, entire families gathered in clumps. Parents chatted while dragonets played; Tsunami even saw some dragonets perched on their parents' shoulders, as if it were a festival rather than a gruesome arena fight. Guards patrolled the waters above and around the arena, eyes sharp for any sign of trouble, spears gripped in their claws. A pair of them spotted Tsunami's entourage and swam down to escort them to an opening in the cage, where a chunk of coral had been removed to allow entrance for the combatants.

They alighted outside the entrance. Nervous, Tsunami shuffled her claws through the sand, stirring up the seabed. She turned to Webs and Riptide, committing the father and son duo to memory. She may have had problems with them in the past, but Tsunami could say without a doubt that both were dear friends to her now. They were the only two Seawings who saw her not as a Seawing princess, but only as Tsunami. For that, she owed them eternal thanks.

 _Webs, Riptide._ Unexpectedly she dipped her head to both of them. _Thank you, both of you. I don't know what I would've done without either of you helping me._

They returned her humble gaze, both with matching expressions of pride and sadness. They bowed to her as well. When they stood, Riptide flashed dimly, _Go._

With dread filling her from head to tail and wingtip to wingtip, Tsunami turned to enter the Cage. She glanced back only once, and saw Webs wrap a wing around Riptide, trying to comfort his dejected son.

The guards slammed the coral door behind her with a reverberating boom. The arena floor was smooth and combed, rid of rocks and seashells. The dome of coral arched two dragon lengths above her, sparse enough to let light in and allow spectators to see, dense enough to prevent escape for full-grown dragons. Tsunami scanned the crowds beyond the Cage. She couldn't see Anemone or Auklet. Was Coral keeping them in the Deep Palace, refusing to let them watch her kill one of their siblings?

She stepped forward, claws planted apart, and faced her opponent. There was only one way to find out.

Queen Coral of the Seawings stood at the other end of the circular arena, head lifted proudly, posture calm and regal. Gone were the strands of pearls woven around her horns, neck, and body—this was a queen ready for battle. Coral saw Tsunami enter, and stepped forward a pace, her long, black claws sharp and gleaming. Her muzzle curled up to reveal the tips of long, white canines, and she unfurled her wings to their full, massive span. Tsunami knew it was a scare tactic, yet even so she found herself intimidated.

 _So it's come to this,_ flashed Coral, moving clockwise around the edge of the arena. _Tsunami, my daughter, kidnapped from my hatchery nearly eight years ago, has returned to claim her mother's throne._

Tsunami followed Coral warily, moving slowly to keep her distance from her. She eyed her long forelegs, the thick scales along her back and flanks. Coral had both reach and defense. How was she going to get through that?

 _Answer me this, Tsunami. If you'd intended all along to claim my throne, why didn't you do it earlier?_ Coral cocked her head, as if they were just having an ordinary conversation. _You could have challenged me at the Summer Palace, made yourself queen before the Skywing attack._

Coral slammed a claw down. Tsunami twitched, expecting an attack, but Coral kept speaking.

 _Were you biding your time? Waiting for a better opportunity? Did you think to let me take the fall for Blister's betrayal, so that you wouldn't have to?_

Tsunami's gills flared, water rushing in and out so quickly it nearly hurt. She forced herself to remain calm, to focus. She had to find a weakness in her mother's defense.

 _Or were you just scared, Tsunami? Scared to face your mother's wrath? Scared that you wouldn't be a match for my strength?_ Coral growled, and Tsunami saw her wings tense a split second before she launched herself in Tsunami's direction. She ducked and threw herself to the side, narrowly missing Coral's form as she plowed into the sand, sending large clouds of particles into the water.

Coral whipped around and snarled, snapping her tail at Tsunami. She sidestepped too late, and the tip of the horn grazed her cheek. A bright sting of pain erupted. Out of the corner of her eye she saw blood floating in the water.

 _And you call me a coward,_ said Coral. _Not even Orca had the gall to do that._

Tsunami backed off, hugging the edge of the arena, fervently trying to come up with a plan. She couldn't keep dodging like this. Sooner or later Coral would land a big hit, and then she'd be done for.

 _She may have been young and reckless, but Orca respected me as her mother. Though she coveted the throne, she never insulted me, or labeled me a coward. That was beneath her. Orca let her claws do the talking, as any true dragon would._

Coral had settled herself into a staring duel with Tsunami. Tsunami met her eyes, refusing to let any of her fear and pain show. Beyond the Cage, the waters were silent. Every Seawing was watching the fight intently.

 _Well, Tsunami?_ Coral snarled, showing off a full set of teeth. _Will you tell us why you've only now decided to challenge me for the throne?_

There—the underside of her neck, where the scales were thinner. If she could get Coral on her back somehow…

 _I challenge you now,_ said Tsunami, _because it's taken me this long to see that you aren't a good queen any more._

She lunged, wings powering through the water, hoping to catch Coral off guard. Too slow, Coral reared up and slammed a claw into Tsunami's side, sending her spiraling away. Tsunami righted herself, landing on her claws, as Coral swam up toward the ceiling of the arena, her wings blocking out the light.

 _And what makes you think you will be a better queen? What makes you think your half-cooked, rabid scheme will work?_ Coral swerved and pounced. Again Tsunami tumbled just out of reach, her side aching profusely. A bruised rib, at the least, if not fractured. She gritted her teeth.

 _I've led this tribe for_ years _, and you think you can do better?_ Coral pressed closer, confident in her advantage, while Tsunami backed away across the arena. She racked her brain for a way to throw Coral off, to expose her weakness. She came up empty.

 _Tsunami._ Coral was in the center of the arena, the sand now gashed and stirred by their struggle. _I believed in you, do you know that? Ever since that day when you returned to the Summer Palace, I believed you would make a fine princess, queen even, to this tribe. Despite your headstrong nature, and your questionable choice of company, I thought at last I had a daughter who could replace Orca. A daughter I could be proud of, who I could show to the rest of Pyrrhia and proudly say, "This is my heir."_

Tsunami's tail brushed against something. She chanced a glance behind her and discovered she'd back up to the wall of the arena. She had nowhere left to run—coral hemmed her in on the sides, and Coral from the front.

 _I see now that I was mistaken._

Tsunami almost laughed, dizzy with adrenaline and blood loss. Coral, of both kinds, was to be the death of her. The great tsunami would break on the reefs, its power dispersed by Coral and coral.

Coral and coral.

That was it.

Feigning exhaustion, Tsunami listed to one side, pressing a claw to her bruised rib.

 _Giving up already?_ Coral shook her head, disappointed. _I expected more from you._

Coral bunched her legs, ready to spring. Tsunami crouched in the sand, eyes half-lidded. Wait for it…wait for it…

With a deafening roar, Coral leapt, claws spread, for Tsunami. She watched as the massive dragon arced through the water, bubbles trailing from her body, eyes feral and vicious. Tsunami tensed her legs, waiting for the moment, heart pounding, blood roaring in her ears.

Tsunami was slower to react underwater. Then again, so was Coral.

As Coral reached the apex of her leap, Tsunami dug her claws into the sand and shot forward, narrowing her body to shoot under Coral's belly and tail. With a loud crunch, Coral collided head first with the wall of the Cage, shaking the structure so badly that a crack blossomed from the impact zone. She roared with pain and fell to her claws, shaking her head, disoriented.

Now or never.

Tsunami whirled around and leapt on her mother's back, clutching Coral's neck and digging her claws in deep. Coral bucked and thrashed beneath her, roaring incoherently, scales flashing brightly and repeatedly in anger. Tsunami didn't know what Coral was saying and she didn't care, hanging on for dear life as Coral spun around the arena, trying to shake Tsunami off.

Reaching forward, Tsunami opened her jaws wide and bit down hard on Coral's neck, earning herself another roar. With her claws freed, she raked Coral up and down her body, slashing through flesh and dislodging scales, tearing through the membrane of her wings to keep Coral grounded. Coral bellowed and ran, slamming herself again and again into the wall to knock Tsunami off, before she had the bright idea to roll onto her back.

And that's precisely what Tsunami wanted.

She tumbled off of Coral before she could be crushed by her massive girth, only to leap right back on her, planting her back legs against Coral's wings, her claws reached for her exposed throat.

 _Get her throat,_ she thought. _One slice, and—_

She was standing over Gill.

Tsunami's heart stopped as, for one surreal moment, Coral's face morphed into her father's—pale green, eyes bloodshot, mouth flecked with blood. Tsunami perched over Gill again, claws wrapped around his throat. She felt the dried texture of his scales, the creak of his spine beneath the flesh. She ordered her claws to twist, to end this terrible nightmare now…

…and found that she couldn't.

 _No,_ she thought. _I can't._

 _You can,_ said the cold part of her. _You will. You must._

Tsunami's grip loosened as her breathing became ragged, sobs threatening to break through. She knew she had to kill Coral, knew that her death was the only way she could win the throne. She'd thought she was prepared to end it, but now discovered that she wasn't.

She'd had to kill her father already. She could not—would not—kill her mother.

 _Yield, mother!_ She signaled at Coral, hoping to convince her to surrender. Perhaps, if Coral could see the fight was lost, Tsunami could let her live, and—

Tsunami was answered by a wordless growl. Coral was deep in the throes of bloodlust, and none of Tsunami's words reached her. Coral kicked with her hind legs, and Tsunami screamed as sharp claws dug into her soft underbelly. The breath knocked out of her, Tsunami's grip slipped, and she suddenly found herself slammed against the sand as Coral flipped over and landed on top of her. Gasping in pain, Tsunami fought to free herself, only for Coral to stamp down even harder. She shrieked, blinded by pain, nearly blacking out. Bile rose in her throat, and she squinted through her eyes as Coral reared back, raising her claws for a finishing strike. Tsunami raised her own claws to shield herself, and saw how small they were compared to Coral's. Her one moment of weakness had cost her the fight.

She wasn't surviving this.

The long, sharp claws arced down, aimed for Tsunami's throat. The last thing Tsunami saw before she scrunched her eyes shut was the black ink stains on Coral's claws. She wondered, distantly, if Coral would end up writing a scroll about her. _The Tragedy of Tsunami,_ something cliché like that.

A fitting end for a disgrace like her.

But before the claws could reach Tsunami's throat, something slammed into Coral. She roared, startled out of her bloodlust, whirling to face the new threat, only to be hurled off her claws by some otherworldly force. Tsunami gasped, gills flaring as she inhaled oxygen-rich seawater, stunned that she was still alive. Coughing, retching, she forced herself to roll over and rise slowly to her claws, her mangled ribs protesting at every movement.

Her jaw dropped open at what she saw.

Coral was plastered against the wall of the arena, held by at least a dozen spears crossed over her body. She struggled, eyes wide in shock, but the spears didn't budge no matter how much she threw herself against them. Outside, the Seawings were crying out in surprise and fear. Tsunami looked past Coral and found out why.

 _Tsunami!_

A pale pink dragon lay against the coral wall, relief written all over her face. Anemone turned to someone, flashed something too quickly for Tsunami to read, then pointed at the door to the Cage. A second later the door swung open, and Anemone hurtled to Tsunami's side like a sailfish after its prey.

 _Tsunami, oh thank all the moons and seas that you're OK!_ She wrapped herself around Tsunami and squeezed, making Tsunami wince.

 _Mother shut Auklet and me in our rooms and set guards to keep us in. She wouldn't tell us what was happening, just that someone issued a challenge for the throne._ Anemone shook her head, as if trying to wake herself from a dream. _I knew it had to be you—who else could be queen?_

 _Anemone, I…_ Tsunami struggled to find words for what she had to say. How could she explain to her sister that she'd very nearly murdered their mother?

 _Tsunami, I know._ Anemone remained calm despite Tsunami's look of shock. _I don't agree with your approach, but that doesn't matter now. I have a better idea, one that I should've thought of sooner._

Anemone turned to Coral, whose mouth flapped like she was a gulping goldfish. She looked down at the array of spears holding her captive, and only managed, _Anemone, my dear…what is the meaning of this?_

 _Mother, I know what's happened between you and Tsunami._

Coral looked flabbergasted. _Darling, you're not supposed to be here. I told you and Auklet to stay in your rooms and—_

 _Enough. When my mother and my sister are fighting to the death, I think I deserve to have a say in the matter._

Around them, Seawings gazed in wonder at this turn of events, subtle signals passing between them. Tsunami caught one word being repeated over and over: animus.

In stopping the challenge, Anemone had been finally forced to reveal her powers to the tribe.

 _Anemone, please._ The anger had vanished from Coral's expression, replaced by thinly veiled fear. _This is all very impressive—your animus powers have become tremendous, really. Now if you could just release me from these spears…_

Coral drifted off as Anemone stared daggers at her. The little Seawing princess then turned from Coral and addressed all the spectating Seawings.

 _Five days ago my sister returned to us from the Mud Kingdom, where she and her friends were fighting a war for their lives against Blister. Tsunami begged us, the Seawing tribe, to aid her in the fight, to save her and her friends from complete destruction._

She turned back to Coral. The rage in Anemone's eyes seemed to turn her into a different dragon entirely.

 _And what did you do, mother? You REFUSED! Your daughter and her friends are in danger, and you refuse to help them? What kind of a mother are you? What kind of mother lets her child suffer like that?_

 _And the rest of you,_ Anemone turned back to the spectators. _Were none of you willing to help your own princess? Were none of you were willing to stand up for her cause? Are you that scared of your own queen that you wouldn't try to change her mind about this?_

Silence met Anemone's furious words. Anemone turned to Coral, her eyes hard as steel.

 _If no one will do anything, then I have no choice but stand up for Tsunami. Mother, I present you with an ultimatum. When I release you, you will head back to the Deep Palace and assemble every able-bodied soldier in the Seawing army. Then, you will lead the army to the surface, where you will help Queen Moorhen and the rest of Pyrrhia in the war. You, me, Tsunami, Auklet—we are all going together to fight Blister._

Anemone stepped right up to Coral, and though she was a fraction her mother's size, she managed to intimidate the Seawing queen into silence.

 _And if you refuse, mother, I will leave with Tsunami anyway. I will go with her to the Mud Kingdom, where I will use my animus powers to heal wounded soldiers on the battlefield. It will be dangerous, but I don't care. I am not letting Tsunami fight this war alone. So you can either come with us, or watch both of your daughters leave._

Not a single sound could be heard in the arena. Everyone stared slack-jawed at the little Seawing princess who had seemingly transformed into a force of nature on the spot. Amidst the turmoil of her emotions, Tsunami felt pride swell up within her at seeing her sister shake off her mother's protective bubble and finally take charge of her life.

Pride, and immeasurable relief. Tsunami turned to Coral, who looked like she would faint at the prospect of Anemone leaving her side. There was no way her mother could refuse now, not with two of her daughters threatening to leave her protection.

 _Anemone,_ Coral got out weakly, _all I want is to protect you and Tsunami._

 _The only way you can protect us, mother, is by stopping Blister. I trust Tsunami. I believe her when she says the only way we'll be safe is if we defeat Blister. It's time to stop hiding, mother. Pyrrhia needs us. Pyrrhia needs you._

Coral, her strength gone, finally lowered her head, crestfallen.

 _I don't have a choice, do I?_

Anemone didn't respond. Coral sighed, her gills fluctuating slowly. She suddenly looked a decade older.

Then she flashed the words that Tsunami had wanted to see since the day she came to the Deep Palace.

 _Seawings. We are going to war._

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow. This chapter guys...it took me a while to write. The amount of emotion in this chapter, coupled with the action of the fight itself, made for a tough combo of a chapter. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, though. In my opinion I don't think Tsunami would kill her mother even if she had no choice. She's headstrong, yes, but that doesn't mean she'll turn on those she loves. And she certainly loves her mother, even if Coral isn't as perfect of a parent as Tsunami had hoped. Coral is definitely quite aggressive this chapter, and I'll chalk that up to her feeling betrayed by Tsunami. She's had to go through this once with Orca, and I highly doubt Coral got out of that unscathed. Tsunami and Coral are identical, really, in that they've been forced to kill someone really close to them: Orca for Coral, Gill for Tsunami. The parallels, man, they're real.

I suppose this is the chapter that will earn this story its T rating. There's been a bit of blood in previous chapters, most notably "First Blood" and "Flee", with maybe "Days of War" and the preceding Scarlet chapters as well. But I haven't actually had a full, one-on-one fight scene until now. I discovered myself almost choreographing the fight in my mind as I wrote. It was a fun experience, and I think it's a good approach for me to take with future stories.

Anyway, I actually don't have much to talk about this week. I don't think I can update again until spring break, which begins next Friday for me. For now I have to focus on final exams. Yippee. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic week.

~SpicyDog99


	23. Beyond the Sea

Beyond the Sea

After the challenge Tsunami was quickly ushered back to her room in the Deep Palace, with Anemone, Coral, and the rest of the Seawings in tow. Someone went to get Sunfish, and the healer was soon busy cleaning up Tsunami's wounds and treating her bruised ribs. As soon as she was finished Riptide rushed in and nearly buried her beneath his embrace—only Sunfish's stern warning to be careful of Tsunami's injuries kept him from practically breaking her ribs for real.

They shared very few words, instead basking in each other's presence, just thankful to be together again. Eventually he left to let her rest, and Anemone came in to inform Tsunami that their mother was living up to her promise: the soldiers were gathering around the palace already, and by tomorrow they would be all set to go. The Seawings weren't exactly enthusiastic about the turn of events, but they followed Coral's orders dutifully. Anemone hoped that they'd soon see just how important their presence was to the war effort.

 _We're Seawings, Tsunami,_ she'd said. _As strong and powerful as the ocean. We've been through war before. I think we can tough this one out._

Tsunami cocked an eyebrow. _"As strong and powerful as the ocean?" Don't go waxing poetic on me, Anemone._

She giggled. _I think mother is rubbing off on me._

Tsunami snorted. _Oh dear. That's a scary thought._

 _Anyway, the tribe will stay strong. Don't worry about that._ Anemone scratched her wing absent-mindedly. _I would keep an eye on Shark and Moray. They'll follow mother's lead for now, but it will be a long time before they forgive you for challenging her._

They meandered off topic for a while before Tsunami remembered something she wanted to ask Anemone.

 _Hey…about what you did in the arena._

Anemone fidgeted uncomfortably. _I know. It wasn't the best time to reveal my powers. But I just…when I saw mother standing over you, I—I wasn't thinking, you know, I—_

 _Anemone,_ Tsunami reached out to touch her sister's claw, _it's OK. If you hadn't done that, then I'd be—_

 _Dead._ Her gills deflated. _Just didn't seem like a good first impression._

Tsunami shook her head. _It doesn't matter now. I'm more worried about what that crazy spear trick did to you._

Anemone lapsed into silence for a while, seeming to struggle with words.

 _I haven't done anything that complex before. The most Whirlpool made me do was one or two objects at a time._ She shivered. _I didn't just feel cold. I felt really_ _angry. Like I wanted to make someone pay for forcing me to use my powers like that._

Tsunami nodded. _So you took it out on mother._

Anemone bowed her head in shame. _I'm sorry, Tsunami, I didn't want it to come out like that. I hurt mother way more than I should have._

 _Maybe,_ said Tsunami, _but it worked. I think you were mother's wake up call, Anemone. I think she needed to hear those words, even if she didn't like them. So don't feel bad. Moons, you managed to get through to mother before I did, and I had a five-day head start!_

Though she still looked unsure, Anemone slowly nodded, a hesitant smile lighting her face.

 _I guess I did._

She left soon to check up on Coral, and Tsunami, exhausted by the roller coaster of a day she'd just endured, slept all the way through the evening to the next morning, when she was awoken by a messenger.

 _Princess Tsunami. You're mother wanted to meet you before we set out today. She's requested your presence at the top of the lookout._

The lookout? The rocky promontory jutting out above the lip of the canyon? Tsunami asked why her mother wanted to meet her in such a strange location.

 _Her Majesty wouldn't say, only that it was very important. I'm sorry I can't be of any more assistance._

Puzzled, Tsunami thanked the guard and swam out of the palace as quickly as her freshly healed ribs would let her. Provided she didn't take any sharp turns she found her ribs didn't hurt too much when she swam. Reaching the lip of the canyon, she found Coral's lonely figure perched at the lip of the promontory, gazing out on the palace below.

Tsunami folded her wings and landed next to Coral. _Mother? You called for me?_

 _Tsunami._ Coral looked like she wanted to hug Tsunami, but thought better of it upon seeing her still bandaged ribs. _I'm glad you could come. How are you feeling?_

Tsunami cocked her head. _Fine, all things considered._ Her chest was a roiling cauldron of relief, anger, and wariness. How was she supposed to act around her mother after they'd nearly killed each other yesterday?

Coral sighed, closing her eyes. _Good. I was afraid when Sunfish said your ribs would need extra time to heal._

The sat in silence, watching the Seawing troops gathering below in their flights, seeing their flashes as orders were given and positions were taken. Despite the looming shadow of war, there seemed to be an air of excitement circulating between the troops, as if the prospect of war on the surface was better than routine patrol duty around the Deep Palace.

 _Hopefully it won't come to that,_ thought Tsunami. _Maybe, if we're lucky, Blister will just surrender when she sees our overwhelming show of force. Or, at least, back off a bit._ She knew the chances of that happening were slim at best, yet the idea was tempting anyway.

It was while she was ruminating on this that Coral finally spoke.

 _Tsunami, I won't pretend that the way I've been acting has been anything but cowardly. I've been pushing you away ever since you got here, and all because I didn't want to accept what you were saying. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, so I refused to believe it._

She looked over at Tsunami. _When you challenged me…all I could think of was Orca. She hurt me so much when she fought me—not just on the outside, but inside too. Even now I feel sad and furious remembering her, and when you followed in her clawsteps…_

Tsunami kept her distance from her mother, though a part of her wanted to simply reach out, embrace her, and tell her everything was forgiven. She waited for Coral to continue.

 _I owe you an explanation, Tsunami, one that's long overdue. An explanation as to why I try so hard to keep you, Anemone, and Auklet safe._

 _Tsunami, I'm not a young dragon. You know that, right?_

Tsunami frowned. _Well…you don't seem old, mother. At least, not as old as Webs._

Coral laughed softly. _I'll take that as a compliment. The truth is, even if I'd wanted to, I don't think I could have more dragonets. My egg-bearing days are over; little Auklet will be my last child._

Her smile fell, and her eyes got a faraway look.

 _Tsunami. Gill wasn't my first mate._

Tsunami shot Coral a look of surprise. _Really?_

 _Yes. When I first became queen years ago, I chose a young, aspiring commander as my mate. Mako was his name. A friend since childhood, and we only got closer as the years passed. My reign was peaceful, the Seawings were happy. Those were the golden days for Mako and me._

Her expression had fallen completely, and Tsunami had to prompt her to continue. _So what happened?_

 _The War of the Sandwing Secession happened,_ said Coral, bitterness seeping into her eyes. _Blister came to me, asked for my support. Mako thought she would make the best queen, and I followed his advice and allied with her. My Seawings were trained and ready for battle, and I sent them to war, believing that I was doing the best for my tribe._

Coral's next flashes were so faint Tsunami barely caught them.

 _Mako was killed six months later._

 _Mother._ This time, Tsunami did reach out to Coral. _I'm so sorry._

 _Don't be, Tsunami. It was years ago, long before you hatched. Mako and I never had eggs—the war came so soon, and between all the battles there was no time for personal matters. I may have been heartbroken, but I was still a queen. I had a tribe to lead, a war to fight. So moved on from Mako, and for many years I reigned alone. The pain I went through with losing Mako…I never wanted to go through it again._

Tsunami's heart ached in empathy. She didn't know what she would do if she ever lost Riptide.

 _But love has a habit of doing what it wants. Eventually I fell for Gill, one of my council members at the time. He promised to always be careful, to always return and look after our dragonets._ Coral shook her head. Her eyes were squeezed shut. _But even he couldn't escape the moons-begotten war. You know what happened. You were the one who told me about it._

Tsunami looked away, a fresh wave of sorrow rising in her chest. Coral had endured so much hardship over the years. Between Mako, Orca, and Gill, it was no wonder her mother was scarred so badly.

And, with a lump of guilt forming in her throat, Tsunami realized she'd scarred Coral as well, by betraying her trust and challenging her throne.

Coral sighed, gazing up at the surface far above. _So. That is why I've been so scared of losing you, Tsunami. That's why I insisted you stay, why I tried so hard to avoid contact with the surface. It's why I built a harness for Anemone, and one for Auklet. I know you think it's excessive, but I just can't…I…_

Her scales faded, and Coral gazed at a point far, far away. She closed her eyes.

 _I don't want to lose any of you again._

Gingerly Tsunami wrapped her wing as far around her mother as she could, and leaned on her, offering her silent support. More guilt built up inside of her. She never did confess to Coral about what happened with Gill.

Well. That was about to change.

When silence finally fell between the two dragons, Tsunami stepped back and signaled her mother.

 _I have something to confess, too._

Coral turned to Tsunami. She didn't say anything, though Tsunami could see her waiting.

 _Say it, Tsunami,_ she told herself. _You've carried the burden for too long now._

 _I killed Gill, mother._

Coral's jaw dropped open. _What?_

Tsunami nodded. She wanted to look away, hide, do anything but confess her crime. But she forced herself to look her mother in the eye. No more hiding, no more cowardice; it had cost them all too much already.

 _In the arena. Scarlet pitted me against him. I had no idea who he was at the time. If I had, I would never have laid a talon on him._ Tsunami blinked, gazing into green eyes that mirrored her own. _But I didn't. And I killed him. Ever since you told me who my father was, I've felt terrible about it. I thought I was a murderer, some cold-blooded monster who just loved to kill._

 _Mother…when I was fighting you, I almost managed to kill you. I'd gotten you flipped over on your back, and I was standing over you. I could have ripped your throat out. I knew I should have if I wanted the throne. But I couldn't. Not after everything I went through with Gill._

Coral was silent, absorbing Tsunami's words, her face drawn and tired.

 _So,_ Coral said, _you wouldn't have killed me, given the chance?_

Tsunami closed her eyes, breathing deep through her gills. Inside, the cold part of her, the part that had told her to kill her mother, remained silent.

She had a good feeling it would stay silent forever.

 _No. Mother, things between us have gotten bad. But from this day forward,_ here, Tsunami stepped back and lowered her head in submission, _I only want to be your daughter. I want to know and love you as my mother, and I never want to fight with you again. We've wronged each other, and it's time we made amends._

 _Please. Forgive me, mother._

A claw cupped Tsunami's snout and raised it to meet Coral's eyes.

 _Tsunami, my daughter. You've already been forgiven._

And without a second's hesitation, mother and daughter embraced, finally glad to put their differences behind them.

Coral may not have been the perfect mother Tsunami dreamed of as a dragonet. But she was the only mother she would ever have, and she was going to do everything in her power to repair their relationship.

They stayed atop the promontory for a while, watching the tribe assemble. The waters above were getting lighter. They would have to leave soon, if they were to reach the Mud Kingdom before sunset.

 _Before we go,_ said Coral, _there's a song the Seawings sing when we honor our dead. Normally we would sing it as we lay our dead to rest far out in the trenches…but I never got the opportunity with Gill. We never received a body to consign to the deep._

 _I'll sing it once, so you know the words. Tsunami, will you sing it with me?_

Gaze firm, Tsunami nodded. _Absolutely._

With a final look of warm pride, Coral closed her eyes. Her scales lit up, and she sang.

 _Great warrior, great warrior_

 _Child of the sea_

 _Brave you were on the battlefield_

 _Yet in death, humble you shall be._

 _Great warrior, great warrior,_

 _Guardian of the sea_

 _Much you gave in name of the tribe_

 _And paid the ultimate fee._

 _Remember now, remember now_

 _Gill of the Sea_

 _Never forget, never forget,_

 _His undying chivalry._

 _Your fight is done, your war is won_

 _Your spirit is now free_

 _We'll see you again, another time_

 _Somewhere beyond the sea._

* * *

Air felt weird.

Tsunami couldn't help the thought as she breathed in humid, salty air for the first time in nearly a week. She had to command her lungs to work, being so used to gills at this point that she'd nearly tried using them to breathe air. Poking her head above the surface, she scanned the waves, spotting only a pair of seagulls bobbing nearby that promptly lifted off with a raucous squawking. The noon sun beat down from overhead, turning the surface of the bay steamy. Excited, Tsunami pumped her wings and lifted from the sea, water cascading from her body as she circled around to gain altitude.

Beneath her, dozens of other Seawings poked their heads above the water. They seemed as glad as she was to get some fresh air. They may have been Seawings, but that didn't mean they didn't enjoy a sojourn to the surface every now and then. Tsunami stretched her wings and roared her delight, relishing in the liberating feel of cold air rushing past her wings.

She'd done it. They'd done it. Her, Riptide, and Anemone.

They'd gotten the reinforcements her friends so desperately needed.

A figure winged up beside her. It was Riptide.

"Feels good to be flying again, huh?" His voice was hoarse from disuse, and when Tsunami replied, she found hers was too.

"Ye—" She cleared her throat and restarted. "Yeah. And talking again, without using Aquatic."

"It happens," he said, chuckling. "Sometimes, when you spend so much time underwater, you forget what it's like above water."

She smiled, looping around him to the other side. "How are the rest of the Seawings?"

Riptide looked back at the soldiers, many of whom were also taking to the skies. Tsunami spotted her mother breaching the surface like a massive, reptilian whale, with Anemone and Auklet in tow. Though she allowed Anemone her freedom, Coral insisted on keeping Auklet harnessed for now, seeing as they were approaching a war zone. Tsunami allowed her mother this one concession—Auklet wasn't going to be of much use in the fighting anyway, and it would give her and Coral peace of mind to know that the last Seawing princess was tucked safely away with her mother.

"Looks like they're forming up in their flights," said Riptide. "They look impressive, don't they?"

They sure did. Tsunami felt pride and awe blossom inside her upon seeing the ranks of soldiers gathering in their flights, forming into a swirling maelstrom of blue and green, like a giant school of predatory fish. Shark and Moray swooped around, barking orders; though they gave her the cold shoulder, neither had tried anything yet, so for now Tsunami was willing to let things lie.

"Ready to lead your tribe?" said Riptide, a twinkle in his eye.

Tsunami swooped in for a mock-jab at Riptide's wing, to which he rolled away laughing.

"I'm always ready, squid-brain. Let's go."

Together, with Riptide, Webs, and later Anemone flanking her in a chevron, Tsunami led her tribe of Seawings southwest toward the coast of the Mud Kingdom. The flights flew in a staggered formation, and Tsunami watched as their shadows passed over the waves of the bay. Small islands and rocks broke the continuous blue every now and then, while overhead thin, wispy clouds scuttled across the sky. The sun descended to the west as the hours passed. By mid-afternoon, a small archipelago appeared beneath them. Beyond, Tsunami spied the distant outline of the shore—the Mud Kingdom, only a couple hours' flight away.

"That's it, right there," said Riptide, pointing toward the islands. "The Sailfish Islands. They're the closest we can get to the Mud Kingdom without risking Blister spotting us."

Tsunami nodded. Before they'd left, Coral's officers had updated her on their plans. In order to maintain their element of surprise, they recommended bringing the army to camp for a night at the Sailfish Islands, which were close enough to the Mud Kingdom to allow for easy access but far away enough to conceal their large body of soldiers. Tsunami thought it was a great idea, and it gave her an opportunity to contact her friends and let them know help was on the way. Plus, she had an idea for a battle plan brewing in her head. If she could inform her friends of her plans tonight, then tomorrow morning they could slam Blister with the combined might of all of their forces.

That said the Sailfish Islands were very small, and relatively barren. Despite the name, the waters surrounding the islands were also scarce in fish, sailfish or otherwise. The army had brought some provisions, but they weren't enough to feed eight hundred Seawings for long. The less time her tribe had to spend camped at the Sailfish Islands, the better. Hopefully, if this went well, they'd only be here only one night.

"Tell Shark to station the troops here for tonight," said Tsunami. "When you come back, we'll head out for Moorhen's palace."

Half an hour later Tsunami, Riptide, Webs, and Anemone were flying for the Mud Kingdom, the rest of the Seawings settling in among the Sailfish Islands. The sun was perched over the Claws of the Clouds Mountains by the time they encountered one of Moorhen's patrols.

Though perhaps "patrol" was too strong of a word for a single, scrawny Mudwing who looked like he hadn't eaten in a week.

Their exchange had been brief, and the Mudwing was soon leading them straight to the camp. Tsunami hadn't expected things to get any better in her absence, yet it shocked her still to see just how much worse things had gotten in the week that she'd been gone. The soldiers looked wearier, gaunter, and even more depressed. There were fewer now than when she'd left, and there'd been few enough to begin with. As they approached the palace, Tsunami was startled to see that Blister's forces had pushed practically all the way up to the camp's fortifications. A stretch of land barely ten dragon lengths long was all that separated the two armies.

"Moons," whispered Tsunami. "We couldn't have come a moment sooner."

She landed in the middle of the camp, feeling momentarily disoriented to have solid ground beneath her feet again. She had little time to reorient herself before a ball of yellow scales nearly bowled her over.

"Tsunami!" shouted Sunny, pressing her warm body against Tsunami's. "Oh, thank the moons your OK. We thought something happened to you."

"Well, a lot of things happened to me," said Tsunami as she saw the rest of her friends gather around, all of them just as happy to see her as Sunny was.

They spent a couple moments in a sappy group hug—sure, there were soldiers staring, but they didn't care. After spending so much time around Seawings, Tsunami forgot just how much she missed her friends. Clay, Glory, Starflight, Sunny…For a moment, she was just glad that nothing bad had happened while she was gone. Her friends were, for the moment, safe.

"So," said Glory, who was the first to detach herself from the hug. Her scales, though pink, were dotted with a smattering of blue and green: nervous, yet slightly hopeful. "Did you convince your mother?"

The others backed off and looked at her, desperate hope burning in their eyes.

"It took some work, and a lot more time than I thought," said Tsunami, "but I managed." For now, she wanted to keep her challenging Coral a secret within her tribe. "I have the entire Seawing army parked a couple hours away, near some islands of the shore."

"How many?" asked Starflight.

This was the moment she'd been waiting for.

"More than thirty flights."

Everyone's jaws dropped so fast Tsunami nearly burst out laughing.

"I'm positive I didn't hear that right," said Starflight.

"Thirty flights?" said Clay. "That's more than what Moorhen had before the siege. Moons, I think it's even more than what Ruby has right now."

"And they're all close by?" said Sunny.

Tsunami nodded. "They're fit, trained, and ready to help us break this siege. Listen up, guys, I have a plan…"

As Tsunami explained her plan for tomorrow's attack, the expressions on everyone's faces changed. Gone were the downcast looks, the constant despair that Blister was slowly and surely starving them out. In it's place was something Tsunami hadn't seen since that night in the rainforest, long, long ago, when they pledged themselves as the Dragons of Destiny and vowed to overthrow Blister.

She saw hope.

"So," she ended, "that's my battle plan for tomorrow. What do you guys think?"

"It sounds awesome," said Glory, a devilish grin spreading across her snout. "You know what the best part it? It's sounds like something Blister herself would concoct. We're gonna give that sand snake a taste of her own poison."

"Seconded," said Starflight. "A feint along Blister's northern front would draw her attention away, make her think Ruby is pushing hard into her territory. Then we swoop in and overwhelm her eastern flank. All of us—Seawings, Mudwings, Skywings—we can do this."

"We will do this," said Tsunami, energy returning to her once more. She was ready to do this. After months of stagnation, of sitting here waiting for something to happen, finally they were going to change it all.

It was time to turn the tables on Blister.

"Sunny, get your dreamvisitor and tell Ruby our plans. Tell her to gather her troops and hammer Blister's flank tomorrow morning. At noon, the Seawings will move forward and push against the front here. I'll tell Moorhen about my plans. She'll be offering support with her troops.

"Starflight, I know you've been helping Moorhen with intel and communication. Try and get some messengers to Ruby tomorrow during the attack so we know how things are going. Glory, get your Rainwings ready, we're going to be reclaiming the rainforest bit by bit. Clay, get the hunter teams ready—once we push Blister back, we'll have to restock our stores as quickly as possible. The Seawings have some food, but it won't be enough. We'll be hunting from the land like always."

"What about you, Tsunami?" said Sunny.

Tsunami stood tall in her soldier's ready position.

"I'll be leading the charge."

She looked them each in the eye, and the all nodded in affirmation.

"Go get things settled, then get some rest. Tomorrow, we are breaking this siege."

* * *

 **A/N:** And with that, we're out of the Deep Palace. After spending three chapters writing all dialogue in italics, it's nice to finally be using quotations again. ^.^ Just looks kind of awkward when most of your document is slanted text.

This is more of a transition chapter. I wanted Tsunami and Coral to make amends, or at least make peace, before they go off to war. It's a sudden change to go from "we're going to kill each other" to "let's never fight again", but at the same time it just didn't feel right to leave things untied between Tsunami and Coral. I wanted to give some motivation to Coral's overprotectiveness, aside from her experience with Orca. I also thought Tsunami ought to finally admit to her killing Gill in Scarlet's arena. There was a point in _The Lost Heir_ where Blister nearly said it, but she was cut off, so I figured now would be a good time for Tsunami to let go of the final burden on her heart. That's not to say everything is instantly fine and dandy between Tsunami and Coral, just that both are willing to take steps to fix their broken relationship. They're family in the end, and it'd be a shame for them to disown each other so completely.

Coral's funeral song is rather unusual fare for me. Songwriting and poetry are not my fortes, and I had to stew a while before I could come up with the appropriate words. The greatest challenge was balancing both rhyming and rhythm and the same time, while also making sure the song made sense. The last line of the song, as well as the title of this chapter, is a reference to the song "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin. And yes, the only reason I know of this song is because of Bioshock. Hey, it's catchy.

Spring break is here, and I've issued myself a challenge. I'm going to ATTEMPT, keyword attempt, to put out a new chapter every day. It's a daunting task, but I have nothing else to do for this whole week, so I may as well. We're getting to another action sequence, so I feel I shouldn't delay with the updates. Which means, as soon as I finish this author's note and upload this chapter, I'm setting to work on the next chapter. So stay tuned, boys and girls. We have a siege to break.

~SpicyDog99


	24. Siegebreaker

Siegebreaker

"Your Majesty?"

Blister's eyes snapped open. A shadow stood backlit against the entrance flap of her tent. Blearily, she blinked, pushing herself to a sitting position.

"Enter."

The tent flap opened, and in stepped Lieutenant Scarab. He kotowed quickly, and then stood at attention.

"My scouts and I have just returned from our morning run along the eastern and northern fronts. We've seen little activity of note—Moorhen's forces are getting weaker with each passing day, while Ruby's dragons are still blockaded from assisting the Mudwings."

Blister nodded distractedly, and did her best to avoid yawning.

"Good, good. No new developments?"

"Nothing too major. The Skywings seemed a bit more active this morning, though it could just be the warming weather. With the current warm front moving in from the north, the Skywings seem to have finally dug themselves out of their snow drifts and returned to their posts."

"Does Icicle need any assistance?"

"None, Your Majesty. She still has the northern flank locked down tight. This cold winter has certainly helped our dragons tremendously in fighting off Ruby's advance."

"It has." Blister sleepily rubbed a claw across her snout. By the moons, she was tired. "If you've nothing else to report, you are dismissed."

"My queen?"

Her claw dropped to rest on the cushion she'd been using as a pillow. "Yes?"

Scarab shuffled under her scrutiny.

"Are you alright, my queen? You've seemed awfully distant as of late."

Blister sighed and shook her head. "I'm fine, Lieutenant. Just a little tired."

"Would you like the healers to—"

"No need, Scarab. I'll notify you if there's anything I need."

Scarab's jaw snapped shut, obviously miffed at the curt dismissal. Nevertheless, he bowed, and, with a quiet, "Your Majesty," left the tent, the fabric swishing behind him.

Groaning, Blister lowered herself to her belly, laying her snout on the cushion and shutting her eyes tight. An ache throbbed near the back of her brain, and her heartbeat sounded loud in her ears. She tucked her head beneath her wing, and the darkness helped stem some of the pain.

She'd been run ragged as of late, managing the camp and tending to her soldiers' many needs. Moorhen still fought on stubbornly, despite the hopeless odds, and Blister was getting more and more aggravated with the Mudwing queen. Ruby continued to assault her from the north, and while the young Skywing queen was unsuccessful in breaching Blister's defenses, she still caused enough or a ruckus for her to lose sleep over. Fresh reinforcements were slow to come from the Stronghold, and many soldiers were forced to serve weeks if not months on end at the front lines. It wasn't unusual for Blister to hear muttering and grumbling behind her back any time she went for a stroll around camp.

Her allies were of marginal help. Scarlet had proved to be less effective then Blister had hoped, only succeeding in annoying Ruby with occasional guerrilla strikes while simultaneously losing many of her rebels as they either deserted or defected to the enemy. It was Icicle—or rather, Tundra and Narwhal—who held back Ruby's advance; Blister had sent them to hold the northern flank, keeping the Icewings far away from the Nightwings, who seemed too disorganized to be of much use. The scientist Mastermind was fairly productive, if perhaps a bit reclusive, shutting himself away in his makeshift laboratory and only coming out to present a new prototype. Fierceteeth, on the other hand, was completely out of her league, barely succeeding in controlling her rowdy tribe let alone leading them. Blister was forced to step in and handle the Nightwings herself, a task that taxed her even more than commanding her Sandwings. Were it not for the numbers they provided, she would have turned the Nightwings over to the Icewings long ago.

All of this meant that Blister was often running from one end of the camp to the other in an effort to keep her army from falling apart. At night, she stayed up late with General Sahara and her other officers, discussing tactics and arguing over the best way to proceed. She went to bed exhausted, only to be plagued with nightmares that she couldn't recall when she snapped awake the next morning. The only thing she could remember from her nightmares was the laughter, the harsh, condescending laughter of her mother, making fun of whatever mistake Blister had made the previous day, or week, or month.

She was getting really sick of that noise.

Frustrated, she got up and left her tent, ignoring the sounds of the chaotic camp as they ricocheted painfully inside her head. Heading to an open area, she spread her wings and took off, hoping a quick flight could help sort her out. She circled up on thermal, her mind blanking out as she let her wings take her where they would. For a moment she could stop being Blister, Queen of Poison, last surviving daughter of Queen Oasis. She could stop worrying about her idiot allies and dimwitted subordinates, and just be herself. Blister, a lone Sandwing, enjoying the skies like any ordinary dragon would.

She breathed in the cold air, felt it fill her lungs. Feeling somewhat reinvigorated, she looked down and saw that she'd flown towards the northern front. Beneath her, Icewings patrolled the valleys and crevices of the Claws of the Clouds, their white, jagged forms sparkling under the morning sun. She spied Icicle standing with another Icewing, gesticulating wildly as her shrill voice reached up to her ears. Blister grimaced. It must be Icicle's brother, Winter, an unremarkable Icewing who seemed to get yelled at by his family a lot. She snorted and banked away, letting Icicle and Winter resolve whatever dispute they had between them.

Out of the corner of her eye Blister spotted a point of red. Turning, she spied a couple of red figures swooping down out of the mountains to the north. Scarlet and her rebels, most likely, returning from another strike on Ruby. Blister grumbled. If Scarlet reported another failure again, she swore by her dead mother's grave that she'd—

More red specks appeared.

Blister stopped short. Had Scarlet found some more rebels? Perhaps she was finally managing to carve loyalty away from Ruby, like she promised she would do. Faintly impressed that Scarlet actually lived up to her word, Blister pumped her wings and sped forward, eager to see these new recruits.

And then even more red figures appeared.

 _What?_ Confused, Blister pulled to a halt yet again, head cocked. What was the meaning of this? Surely Scarlet hadn't just led Ruby's army back to—

A battle cry sounded in the distance, and Skywings poured from the mountains.

"Camel spit."

* * *

"The messengers just returned," said Starflight, returning to the group with Fatespeaker by his side. "Ruby has attacked in force."

Around them, the camp buzzed with excitement. The Mudwings, who'd previously looked as lively as drowned swamp rats, now stood at nervous attention, ready to follow the promised reinforcements into battle. Moorhen had made the announcement last evening to prepare for battle—the dragonets had gathered the Seawings to their side, and now Coral's dragons poised only a couple hours away, ready to strike as soon as Ruby had drawn away Blister's attention. That morning the soldiers were preparing, fixing weapons and armor and getting in last minute drills before the call to charge. As soon as the Seawings arrived, they'd be taking to the skies.

"Good," said Clay, nodding to the two Nightwings. They'd be staying behind the front lines, establishing communication with Ruby and handling the messages between the two armies. Though they weren't fighting, they still served a crucial role, and Clay was glad to have one of his friends watching his back.

He turned to Tsunami. "I guess that's your cue to go?"

"Yep," she said, shaking out her wings already. "Just hang tight. I'll be back by noon, and then we can stomp some Sandwings."

As her wingbeats faded into the distance, Glory said, "You sure Ruby can hold out until then?"

"I don't know for certain," said Starflight. "Anything can happen in battle. But Sunny said Ruby was pretty confident her dragons could do the job. Worst case, they can always retreat back north. Hopefully by then we'll have routed them down here."

"Stay positive guys," said Sunny. "We've all been through a lot, but I think it's coming to an end now."

"Let's hope so," said Glory, sniffing. "If I never have to see mud again, it'll be too soon."

"Oh, come on, Glory," said Clay. "It isn't that bad. Look!" And with that he rolled over in a patch of mud, sending chunks of it everywhere as he spread his limbs and frolicked. Sunny jumped away, shrieking in glee, while Glory shied away with a mock look of disgust.

"Boys," she said. "I'll never understand you."

"Hmm," said Deathbringer, who was standing beside Glory. "I have a sudden urge to—"

"Don't you dare!"

They all had a good laugh at that, one they desperately needed to cool their pre-battle nerves. They split afterwards for their respective posts: Sunny for the healer's huts, Starflight for Moorhen's palace, and Glory for her Rainwings. Clay, having nothing to do, wandered around camp a bit before checking in on his sibs.

He found them gathered outside the armory, helping each other suit up in their crocodile leathers. Reed was moving down the line, checking each one of them individually, making sure every strap was snug and tight. He turned when he heard Clay approaching and smiled.

"Clay! What's the news? Has Ruby attacked yet?"

Clay nodded. "Tsunami just left to return to her tribe. She'll be back by noon, and that's when we'll attack."

Reed nodded. "Sounds good. I was just making sure everyone's gear is ready to go." He tugged on a loose strap, and beside him Umber winced. "Ooh, sorry. Too tight?"

"Yeah," said Umber. The little dragon was practically swallowed by the chest and back pieces, and the helmet nearly covered his eyes.

"Need some help?" said Clay.

"Naw, I've got it covered." Reed waved over at the armory, where a line of Mudwings was standing before the smiths. "Moorhen's ordered us all to get leather armor, since we have a surplus of it. You might as well grab some while you're at it, Clay."

"Sure thing." Before he left, Clay spoke with each of his sibs, reassuring them for the battle ahead. They ranged from calm to nervous; all of them brightened when he spoke with them.

"Clay," said Sora, "will you be fighting with us?"

Clay cocked his head. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Sora looked down. "Well, you just seem to hang out with your friends all the time, so I thought you'd be going with them."

Clay knelt down before Sora. "Sora. You know I love you guys as much as I love my friends. They can take care of themselves. I just want to make sure you stay safe out there."

Sora nodded, but still looked unconvinced. "What about Reed?"

"What about him?"

"Will he, I mean…" She opened her mouth, closed again, before saying, "Will Reed still be our bigwings for this battle?"

Clay chuckled. "Reed will always be your bigwings. Just consider me a guest, like you did with Tsunami. You enjoyed having her along, right?"

"Yeah. But it's different. You're our brother."

"I am your brother. And it won't make any difference today. Listen, we'll all follow Reed today—including me. I've already talked to him about it, so don't worry. He'll keep us safe, and I'll be there to help. OK?"

Sora nodded, smiling now. "Got it."

"Good." Clay butted heads with Sora and rose. "See you in a bit. Gotta get my armor."

As he stood, he noticed Reed watching him. Clay headed over to him.

"Don't worry about Sora," said Reed. "She's just nervous. Always is before battle."

Clay shrugged. "It's no big deal. I don't spend enough time with you guys anyway."

Reed bared a fanged tooth in a grin. "Too much time with your lady?"

He busted out laughing as Clay felt his scales get hot in embarrassment.

"Joking, joking," Reed quickly said. "Anyway. I'm glad to have you along. In case something goes wrong."

Clay's expression fell. "Reed. You know I have faith in you."

"Yeah," he said, "I believe you. As for myself? I'll wait until after this battle."

"You'll do fine, Reed." Clay's voice was measured, knowing exactly what it was that bothered Reed. "You've been a wonderful bigwings to our sibs. You've gotten them all through the past months. I know you'll keep in safe today."

Reed nodded. "Thanks. For what it's worth, our troop's been one of the most successful in this war. No casualties, and we've been out on the front lines longer than anyone else. I think we've even impressed Moorhen. I heard she'll be keeping an eye on us this battle, to see how well we do."

"That's great!" Clay smiled wide. "Could be a promotion coming down the pipe?"

Reed chuckled, saying, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now. We still have a war to win. And you still need to get your armor."

"True. See you in a bit, bigwings."

As Clay left, he heard Reed laughing.

"You too, _bigger_ wings."

* * *

"Lieutenant?"

Growling, Scarab tore his eyes away from the outpost he'd been squinting at. "What is it?"

Beside him, Scorpion gulped. "A message just came from Her Majesty. She wants us to stay here and watch the Mudwings for anything suspicious."

"Hmph. Unsuprising. While she takes the rest of the warriors to reinforce Icicle, we scouts are left with the loser's post." He puffed a jet of smoke from his nostrils. "Should have known she would do this."

"Lieutenant?"

Scarab shook his head. "It's nothing, Scorpion." He knew better than to voice his complaints out loud. "Tell the others to go grab some food. We're going to be here for a while."

While Scorpion scampered away to do his bidding, Scarab settled down and returned to his favorite activity of staring lifelessly at the Mudwing line far away. He was lying on a rock outcropping a short leap above the muddy swamp—an outpost that they'd wrested from the Mudwings only a week ago, after a series of protracted attacks that cost more Sandwing lives than Mudwing lives. From here he had a good view to the enemy fortifications, and of Moorhen's palace towering in the not-so-far distance. Across from him, the forms of dozens of Mudwing soldiers flew to and fro, seemingly caught up in some kind of activity, though Scarab couldn't guess what.

Brooding, he scratched circles on the rock beneath him, his talons making a grating _schleek_ as he traced a mark across the gray shale. It wasn't the post that bothered him—he'd have cleaned out Her Majesty's chambers if it meant gaining her favor—so much as it was the suddenness of the assignment. Later that morning, after Blister had dismissed him, an alarm had come in from the north that Ruby was attacking, and Icicle needed reinforcements. Blister, who'd gone to the front lines earlier, returned to assemble her flights. Scarab had volunteered his squad, but was promptly turned away. Blister sent him and his dragons to the eastern front, in case Moorhen tried anything while she was away.

He knew it was the smart move; Ruby's offensive stank of a trick of some kind. Still, he couldn't help the feeling that Her Majesty was intentionally avoiding him.

 _Must have been my remark about her health,_ he thought. _Guess I stepped out of my bounds, there. But I was only concerned with her well-being._

He wondered, suddenly, when he started caring about Blister's personal affairs. A lowly lieutenant such as him had no business sticking his snout in the queen's business. He only saw her frequently by virtue of his job as scout. He was surprised she even remembered his name.

None of which solved the question of why he'd taken an interest to Blister. Because it was an interest, he realized now. Why would he be so bothered by this if it were anything else?

 _I'm just a loyal soldier,_ he told himself. _Blister is the queen Pyrrhia needs. I'm just ensuring she makes it to that position._

Truly, any other Sandwing in his position would do the same.

He was taken from his thoughts when Scorpion returned, twin chunks of meat gripped in his claws. He set one down and pushed it to Scarab.

"Here. It's mountain goat. At least, I think it is. Hard to tell with all this mud and grime."

Scarab looked down at his meat. It was more brown than red, and smelled strongly of swamp water. He sniffed it disdainfully, his appetite diminishing the more he looked at it.

"Indeed." Best to get it over with—food was food, and Scarab had to keep his strength up.

As they bit into their food, Scorpion said, "By the way, Saguaro and Tumbleweed are at it again."

Scarab groaned. Apart from Scorpion, the only other dragons under his command were two hotheaded males who spent more time fighting each other than the enemy. "Do tell."

Scorpion launched into a convoluted tale involving a pretty female that both Saguaro and Tumbleweed were pursuing. Scarab tuned most of it out, knowing how it was going to play out—the two would get in a fight, scare off the female in the process, and refuse to speak to each other. Honestly, some days Scarab felt more like a brooding mother than a squad leader.

"…so then Saguaro said he saw Tumbleweed heading off alone with Vixen. He snuck up on them, and found them…"

He grunted at the appropriate times, only half-listening as he bit into his meat. He raised his head up, letting gravity help the meat down his gullet, as Scorpion prattled on.

"…and when Vixen ran off, Tumbleweed was furious. You should have seen them. I swear, if I hadn't been there to keep them apart, they probably would have torn each other to pieces…"

Scarab wasn't listening anymore. He was staring ahead at something approaching on the eastern horizon.

"…now they're busy skulking like angry mountain lions. Seems like every week we deal with another spat between them." Scorpion gulped down a bite of meat and only now noticed Scarab wasn't paying attention.

"Lieutenant? Is something the mat…" Scorpion trailed off as he followed Scarab's wide-eyed gaze.

"…ter."

From north to the south, the entire horizon was filled with Seawings.

* * *

A battle cry echoed through the sky.

Peril looked up as, overhead, hundreds of blue and green forms streaked past, the air from their passage ruffling the grass and swamp brush around her. She smiled, jaws open in a pant. It was incredible! So many dragons…Peril looked to see how many were left, and discovered she still couldn't see the end of the formation. There must have been _hundreds_ of Seawings.

As they passed, she heard their battle cries:

"Seawings, to war!"

"For Queen Coral!"

"Freedom for Pyrrhia!"

Her pre-battle nerves vanished as Peril felt herself caught up in the euphoric rush of the moment. They had her. There was no way Blister could beat a force like this.

Peril glanced at Clay, who stood next to her, garbed in his shiny leather armor; Peril thought he looked dashing. Around him was the rest of his sib troop. Clay looked to Peril.

"Ready?" They would all be flying into battle, all seven of them. With Reed and Clay watching over the group, the other Mudwings looked decently confident. Even Peril felt her fear slip away, at least slightly.

"Yes."

Clay left his sib troop to stand by Peril. "It's OK if you don't want to do this."

Peril looked away, gathering her thoughts and quelling her roiling emotions. She met Clay's gaze, his warm, brown eyes making her feel somewhat relaxed.

"I want to do this, Clay." She touched his claw briefly, enough for him to feel her hot scales. "You're all doing so much. Fighting for freedom, for Pyrrhia. I want to help, too."

Clay nodded, looking pained. "You may be forced to kill dragons again, Peril."

"I know." A hot flush flared up under Peril's scales, and she let it pass with a shudder. "I—I'm OK with that."

"Nightmares?"

Peril shook her head. "No. Well, I don't know."

She'd had dreams, that was for sure, though they didn't scare her the way her old nightmares did. In them she found herself surrounded by dead dragons—Mudwings, Skywings, Seawings, and more—but none of them had burn marks on them. No, they all showed clear signs of poison, the black ink of Sandwing poison spreading from numerous puncture wounds.

She'd stumble around through the darkness, coming across body after body. Always, in the distance she heard clawsteps. She caught glances of her quarry: a barbed tail, a hind leg, the trailing edge of a wing. Yet no matter how hard she tried she could not catch her target. Her cackling laughter eluded her every night, and she awoke, unnerved and angry, claws slashing at empty air.

"It's nothing, Clay. I'll be fine. It's different from before. This time, I'll be fighting to protect the dragons I love, not for Scarlet's entertainment."

Clay looked like he wanted to say something, but a call from behind drew their attention.

"Mudwings, into the sky! Form up behind the Seawings, they'll be breaking through the line!"

Moorhen stepped out of her palace, resplendent in her armor, flanked by Heron and her other sibs. Immediately the Mudwings echoed her command and, with a thunderous clapping, took off after the Seawings. With no time to lose, Peril followed Clay and Reed as they led their troop into battle.

It was a massacre. A massacre that Peril, thankfully, didn't have to participate in.

By the time Peril was winging her way toward the battle, the Sandwings had fallen back from their forward positions, overwhelmed by the shear numbers of the Seawing force. Peril flew up a little higher to get a better view, and saw Tsunami leading the charge, a large dragon flying beside her. Coral, presumably. Peril heard her bellow a command, full of authority.

"Spread out, Seawings! We move not one step backwards. We're pushing these Sandwings back to the rainforest!"

Cries of, "Not one step backwards!" and "To the rainforest!" sounded around her. The Seawings rushed forward and slammed into the retreating Sandwings. Some of Blister's dragons tried to make a stand, forming together into a line of fire and barbs, but they were woefully outnumbered. As the Mudwings caught up, the Sandwing line quickly shattered, the small yellow figures of Blister's troops winging away in a panic. Peril saw Heron swoop in first, fierce and terrifying in her anger, as she caught the fleeing Sandwings and brought them to ground, where she tore into them with an almost demonic fury.

It was almost anti-climactic. Here she was expecting a big battle, and instead all they head were a few scouts to mop up. Peril couldn't help laughing. And she was worried that she'd have to kill dragons?

At this rate, they'd be back in the Sand Kingdom by spring.

Peril raised her head and howled, long and low. Her quarry, Blister of the Sandwings, was running.

Soon, soon, she would have her cornered.

* * *

"Go."

It took a moment for Scorpion to register the command. "Go? But Lieutenant—"

"That's an order, Scorpion. Get Saguaro and Tumbleweed and get to the north flank. Blister must know about this, or she's going to be overrun from the south."

Scorpion whipped his head around, his voice choked and squeaky. "Scarab…"

"Scorpion, _go._ "

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Scorpion turned tail and fell back from the defensive line Scarab had formed with the other Sandwings. Out of the corner of his eye, Scarab saw the little Sandwing group up with his squadmates and fly swiftly for the north.

Before him, the Seawings slammed into their line. Scarab held no delusions—he wasn't getting out of this one alive, not with this many Seawings coming at them. None of them were. If they could just buy some time for Blister, it would all be worth it.

"Stay together!" he shouted. "We make our stand here!"

A Seawing pounced for him. He nimbly sidestepped and plunged his barb between the Seawing's flanks, then kicked him away. A second leapt on his back, shredding his wings and pushing him into the mud. He roared, rolling over to slam his assailant into the ground, only for yet another Seawing to land on his front. He felt sharpened claws shred his scales, and he threw his claws up to shield himself, batting away his opponent's attacks before ramming his barb into the Seawing's stomach.

Scarab rolled to his claws, his opponent curling away in agony. He stumbled, blood running into his eyes; he shook his head vehemently to clear it. Adrenaline pumping, flanks heaving, he gazed up as an enormous Mudwing descended on him. He braced for impact.

"ROOOOOOAAARRRR!"

He was slammed into the ground, his scales tearing and rending as the massive Mudwing dugs her claws into his stomach. She grabbed his head and slammed it, once, twice, thrice. Stars and sparks flashed across Scarab's vision as pain erupted everywhere.

A claw grabbed his snout and yanked him forward. Gagging, Scarab stared blearily up at the dark, rage-filled eyes of his killer.

"This is for Caiman."

Her claws gripped his head and twisted. Scarab's world went dark.

* * *

 **A/N:** Two days...eh, that's not so bad. Writing a full chapter a day is a lot of work, but it's fun. I'll see if I can maintain this rate.

I had a lot of perspective jumping this chapter, and I'm not sure how well it's worked. The two things I knew I wanted were A) Blister reacting to Ruby's feint and B) some soldiers reacting to seeing a whole sky full of Seawings descending on them. Since I had Scarab earlier in the chapter with Blister, I figured he'd work as well as any character. Seems he had something going for Blister - but now we'll never now. Now we have to see if Scorpion can get to Blister in time, and what Blister will do to stop this.

Short talk this time around, I need to get to work on the next chapter, which should hopefully some more battle in it. See ya soon!

~SpicyDog99


	25. Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

Blister's eyes narrowed as she hovered in the sky, scanning the battlefield. Minute figures thrashed below, tiny dots of tan and white pouncing on red and orange as the two armies clashed. Roars and bellows reached her, punctuated by the ear-piercing screech of claws on scales. Once they'd shaken off their surprise, Icicle's troops had met Ruby's in the sky, holding back the Skywing advance until Blister could get her own troops north.

She smiled. Their superior numbers had been enough to force the Skywings to the ground, where they lost their aerial advantage. Their massive wings, which had given them the benefit of speed in the sky, now served to hinder them as they fought the smaller, more nimble Sandwings and Icewings. Already Skywing corpses outnumbered those of Blister's forces, and with every passing second more of Ruby's soldiers fell.

An idiotic move on Ruby's part, to attempt such a reckless charge against her front. And despite their mounting losses, the Skywings refused to retreat. Blister cocked her head. What was driving them to fight this losing battle?

 _Perhaps I gave Ruby more credit than she deserved,_ she thought. _Scarlet's daughter has never been the best of tacticians._

Blister turned as wingbeats approached from behind. _Speak of the dragon, and here she comes. Seems she's brought company._

She swung back to meet up with Scarlet, who was followed by General Sahara and Princess Icicle. Together the four dragons flew in line, circling above the battlefield below.

"General," said Blister. "How goes the battle?"

Sahara dipped her head. "Very well, My Queen. We've countered Ruby's offensive and pulled her troops to the ground. We've pushed down the western flank and are wrapping around to trap the Skywings from behind."

"My Icewings are holding fast," said Icicle, showing her stark white teeth in a smug grin. "I sent my Frostguard forward, and they made short work of Ruby's dragons. This battle will be over within the hour."

Blister nodded, contemplating their words. "And you, Scarlet? What do you think?"

The former Skywing queen turned her disfigured face toward Blister. Scarlet's snout distorted into a scowl.

"I lost the rest of my rebels in this attack. Either they're dead, or they've fled—I may have even seen some surrender to Ruby's soldiers." She hacked and spat a glob of spit to the side. "Disgusting. I can't trust any Skywings these days."

"Rest assured, Scarlet. We will win this battle."

Scarlet sniffed. "You'd better. We've had few enough victories these past—"

"Your Majesty!"

All four dragons whipped around as three beleaguered Sandwings came rushing up to them. They were covered in mud, scratches crisscrossing their scales.

The one in the front pulled to a stop, gasping for breath, before shouting, "Seawings! To the south!"

"What?" Blister's jaw fell open.

The Sandwing nodded, almost falling out of the sky in his haste to explain.

"The eastern front. Overrun. Seawings, came out of nowhere. Lieutenant Scarab, all the rest, dead."

"How many?"

To that, the Sandwing only shook his head, panic in his eyes.

Sahara swore loudly. "I knew it. This attack was sloppy even by Ruby's standards; I thought something stank about it. It was a diversion all along."

Blister drilled Sahara with a furious glare. "I thought you said Coral was staying out of this war. How in the world did we not see an entire Seawing army creeping up on us?"

Sahara shook her head. "I've been sending scouts to comb the bay for Seawings. We never got anything. No sightings, no tracks, nothing. My queen, I am as stunned as you are at this turn of events."

"Ha!" shouted Icicle. "Seems like someone isn't doing her job properly."

"And what would you have done, princess?" growled Sahara.

" _I_ would have struck out against the Skywings long ago and driven them out. Then, I'd have swooped down, cornered Moorhen, and ended this miserable war quickly. None of this siege nonsense, it's boring!" Icicle snapped at the air, punctuating her statement.

"And how would you have done that? Your excursions into the Claws have brought nothing but losses. Do you even know the first thing about warfare, princess?"

The Icewing's eyes narrowed to barely visible slits. "How dare you imply—"

"Enough." Blister silenced their dispute before it could get out of hand. "None of this is helping. You there." She pointed at the scout who had brought them the bad news. "How long before the Seawings catch us?"

The Sandwing looked distant for a moment, before replying, "I'm not sure, Your Majesty. An hour? Last I saw, they were surrounding the Nightwing camp. I'm afraid they're lost, too."

The losses were compounding each other. Blister fought the urge to scream. "And Fierceteeth? Where is she?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know."

A dreadful silence fell between them. Sahara caught Blister's gaze.

"My queen. What is your command?"

Blister closed her eyes. Emotions boiled beneath her scales. Anger, both at the dragonets for putting her through this, and at the inept dragons under her command. Frustration at herself, for falling for such a rudimentary tactic. Regret, for delaying the siege for this long. And there, down at the bottom, beneath it all…

Fear. For the first time in the war, Blister feared defeat.

She snapped her eyes open.

"An hour is all we need."

Sahara cocked her head. "My queen?"

"Messenger," she said to the Sandwing, "you're dismissed. Leave us."

As the three messengers fell away, Blister turned to Sahara and Icicle. "Tell the soldiers to keep pushing forward. Rush the Skywings; we have the advantage, we need to press it right now. I want Ruby's forces routed before the Seawings arrive."

Sahara balked. "You'd leave our rear open?"

"No, general. I intend to defeat one foe before turning around to face the other. I will not let our armies get sandwiched."

"And the Skywings?" said Icicle. "Ruby's a coward. She'll surrender to spare the lives of her dragons rather than fight it out to the end. What do we do about her troops?"

Blister looked over at Scarlet, who met her gaze with menacing certainty. Subtly, Scarlet nodded.

"We slaughter them all," said Blister.

* * *

They covered ground swiftly, pushing south and west through the Mud Kingdom, reclaiming territory that had been lost for months behind enemy lines. The Seawings bellowed their cries of victory as the Sandwings fled into the distance, hightailing it to the shadows of the rainforest to evade Coral's unstoppable juggernaut. They quickly passed outposts, then the main body of the Sandwing camp, now abandoned.

"Take what you can for now," yelled Tsunami from the front of the formation. "But don't destroy anything yet. We can still use their supplies. Get to it! We need to move on and reinforce Ruby as soon as possible."

Peril hung back, circling above as the Seawings rummaged through the camp, pulling out weapons and armor and checking the tents and huts for any stragglers. Clay and the others had gone on ahead to help the Seawings, but she knew she'd only get in the way. Unless Tsunami changed her mind and wanted the camp burnt to the ground, there was little she could do.

A commotion erupted below—dark shapes hissed as the Seawings surrounded them. Peril grimaced. Nightwings. Seems they'd been left behind for a second time.

She swung about to head over and listen in on what was going on. A large gathering of Nightwings huddled within a ring of Seawing soldiers. Tsunami and Clay were down on the ground, speaking to one Nightwing who stood at the head of the group, a smaller dragonet by his side.

"Where is she? Where's Fierceteeth?" Peril heard Tsunami say.

"Gone," came the reply. "Ran with most of the warriors, leaving the rest of us behind. She's probably hiding in the rainforest with the other Sandwings."

"And you didn't go with your daughter?"

"No. She's thrown her lot in with Blister. All her promises of Nightwing freedom and solidarity—they were all lies. She's handled this tribe poorly, and I'm glad that she's gone now."

The dragonet said something, and the Nightwing knelt to listen. Then he stood a bit taller.

"Moonwatcher is right. We owe nothing to Blister anymore. We'll join you. Just try not to leave us behind again."

Tsunami acknowledged the Nightwing and directed some of her troops to lead the tribe back to camp. Soon the entire tribe had take flight, the sky swarming with black and indigo wings. Peril saw that most of the Nightwings still looked scraggly and underfed, their scales dull and dirty.

"Poor Nightwings," she said as Tsunami and Clay joined her in the air. "They're always getting the short end of the stick."

"Here's hoping things change," said Clay. "I think we can finally protect them properly now."

Peril shot Clay a skeptical glance. "No more midnight escapes from the rainforest, then?"

"Nope," said Tsunami, chuckling. "Let's gather the troops. We've spent long enough here—"

"General Tsunami, a messenger has arrived!"

The three of them turned to see a Skywing escorted by a duo of guards. Wounds and open cuts scored the Skywing's body, and he shuddered as he pulled to a halt.

"Princess, Queen Ruby needs your help. Blister's hammering us, we won't last long."

Tsunami glanced over at the flights of Seawings still on the ground, sorting through the paraphernalia of the camp. "We'll be there as soon as we can. I'm getting my troops—"

"Princess, it can't wait! Ruby's on the verge of surrender."

Tsunami's head whipped around. "What? Queen Ruby said she could hold the north until we got there."

The Skywing's gaze fell. "I-I'm sorry…but…the Frostguard…"

Tsunami growled. "That explains everything."

She roared for attention, and all the Seawings turned to their princess.

"Up, into the sky now! Flight leaders, gather your flights and head north. Ruby needs reinforcements immediately!"

As the Seawings scrambled to their positions, Tsunami turned to Clay and Peril.

"Look. It's going to take some time for my troops to get organized and head up north. I don't know how long it will take. Half an hour, at least, to get the main body up there. If I send you two with a vanguard of Seawings, you should arrive in time to help. You think you can hold Blister long enough for the rest of us to arrive?"

Clay and Peril looked at each other. In Clay's eyes Peril saw fear, yet determination. He would go, despite the danger it would put him and his troop in. He would go, even if he didn't wish to hurt dragons any more than she did. He would go, if it meant winning a victory and protecting his friends from further harm.

And if he went, she was going with him.

"We'll do it," said Peril.

Tsunami nodded. "No time to waste. I'll send a flight to escort you. Go."

Side by side, Clay and Peril turned to head north.

"Peril!"

Peril pulled up short and, hovering in midair, glanced back at Tsunami. Gratitude shone clearly in the Seawing's expression.

"Thank you. For everything."

Unbidden, a smile touched Peril's snout. She nodded once, before pumping her wings to catch up to Clay.

* * *

The sight that lay before Peril made her heart plummet.

The battlefield came into view as she, Clay, and their escort surmounted a rise in the terrain. The smell was what hit her first—the scents of blood and fear intermingling in the air, mixed with the putrid scent of decaying flesh. The echoes of war reached her next, snarling and shrieking, dragons trapped in the feral throes of bloodlust mercilessly tearing each other to shreds. Then came the field of bodies: red and tan and white, stretching on and on into the distance. Most were still, while some still crawled feebly, trying to find fallen comrades or pull themselves to safety.

Peril felt her gorge rise. The fallen consisted overwhelmingly of Skywings.

"There!" shouted Reed, flying alongside Clay. "Ruby's backed up against the slope of that mountain."

Perched up the side of a short mountain was a lone group of Skywings—barely two flights worth of dragons, hemmed in by a massive horde of Sandwings and Icewings. The Skywings stood in a semicircle facing outwards, alternately clawing and breathing flames at the foes that came at them from below and above. Peril spied Ruby at the front, scales slick with blood, posture weak and haggard. General Ibex stood protectively in front of her, though he didn't look much better.

Peril scanned the chaos for any sign of Blister, Icicle, or Scarlet, but couldn't find any of them. Heat festered within her. Those cowards…

"Clay," said Reed, voice weak. "There are so many. What do we do?"

Her heart thrummed in her chest, blood pounding in her ears. These Skywings…she shouldn't have pitied them. Why would she, when she'd been shunned and rejected by these very dragons her entire life? They'd spat at her, isolated her, branded her a monster. They applauded her only in the arena, where she took innocent lives for their amusement. Now they were getting their due. Truly, she owed them nothing.

So why did her heart clench at seeing them beaten, bloody, and crushed beneath Blister's claw?

As her gaze fell on the panicked, fear-stricken faces of the last remaining Skywings, she knew her answer.

No dragon on the face of Pyrrhia deserved to die like this. Like cows herded to slaughter.

"Stay back," she growled, flaring her wings and lunging forward.

She blocked out Clay's wild protests, speeding away from him, her large wings carrying her swiftly to battle. As she neared the line she heard Ruby wail.

"Enough! I submit!"

The battle halted momentarily as Ruby stumbled out onto a rock outcropping jutting from the slope. She gasped, one wing skewed, a hind leg limping.

"I surrender. My dragons can fight no longer."

A figure detached from the throng and landed in front of Ruby. It was Princess Icicle.

The Icewing sauntered up to Ruby, her claws clacking sharply against the shale of the outcropping. Ruby bowed her head until it nearly touched the rock, as if she were no more than a lowly servant bowing to royalty.

"Please. Spare us."

Icicle wrapped a serrated claw around Ruby's muzzle and yanked her up to eye level. Ruby stiffened, yet remained silent.

"After all you've done to my Icewings, you ask for surrender? You insult me."

She shoved Ruby into the ground.

"Pyrrhia has no room for the weak and traitorous. It belongs to the strong and loyal."

The heat within Peril reached an unbearable level. Never, in all her years of fighting in the arena, had she felt this truly _enraged._ No matter where she went, it was always the strong that picked on the weak, the predators that hunted the prey. Red encroached on her vision as she streamlined her body into a teardrop and shot forward toward Icicle.

Peril had always been the strong one, the predator hunting the weak. She had always hated herself for who she was.

Now was her time to redeem herself.

Peril's world shrunk to Ruby and Icicle, to her wings and body as they shot through the air. Shouts and cries of alarm faded into oblivion as she narrowed her eyes.

Icicle reared back and opened her maw, mist forming in her throat, the swirling mix of tiny icicles building up to a ball of glowing white between her jaws. She bent down, her muzzle a talon's length away from Ruby, who struggled feebly in Icicle's iron grip.

"Icicle!"

The Icewing's head shot up right as Peril tucked her head in and bowled full speed into her, hurling them off the outcropping and down the side of the mountain. Earth and sky tumbled end over end as Peril grabbed hold of Icicle, pulling herself flush against her icy body. Icicle screamed in pain, and thrashed mindlessly in Peril's steel grip. Scales screeched against rock, sparks flew as Peril and Icicle rolled to a stop along an open stretch of ground.

Peril landed on top of Icicle, who continued shrieking wordlessly as her pristine white scales turned a scorched black where they made contact with Peril's body. Planting her rear legs on Icicle's stomach and her front claws on Icicle's chest, Peril brought her face even with Icicle's and gazed into the Icewing's wide, pale eyes.

"I am Peril, champion of those you call weak. Know my name, and be silenced."

She reared back and jammed her claws into Icicle's throat. Icicle's cries cut off instantly into a stunted choking as she twitched under Peril.

Blood roared in her ears. A part of her pleaded for mercy.

She smothered that part of herself.

It could have been a second or a year, but finally Icicle's body stilled, smoke rising from blackened scales. Peril let out a shuddering breath as she took in the princess's traumatic expression. Slowly, she removed her claws from Icicle's body and gingerly stepped away.

 _She deserved it,_ she thought. _Icicle was a cruel dragon. She's killed many innocent dragons already, and she would have killed Ruby if I hadn't intervened._

She gazed down at her claws, tinged with soot from Icicle's burnt scales.

Had she taken a step forward—or two steps backwards?

But she had no time to dwell on her inner conflicts. Out of nowhere four massive Icewings fell around her, each one of them wearing a strange half-helm that covered their eyes and snout, but left their muzzles open. Peril tensed, entering her battle stance, as she swung around, eyeing each of her opponents.

Frostguard. The realization felt like a spear of ice had been rammed down her spine.

"The princess!" One of the guards pointed a claw at Icicle's mangled body. "The Skywing's murdered the princess!"

All four of them growled, and began advancing on Peril. Her fighting instincts kicked in, and Peril launched herself at the guard in front, latching her burning claws to his helm in an effort to reach his vulnerable scales underneath. The helm was ice-cold, and barely thawed beneath her talons. Peril scrabbled for purchase and hung on.

The guard roared and flung his head, throwing Peril off and slamming her into the ground. Peril struggled to her claws only to see a massive ball of frostbreath rushing toward her. She braced for impact.

The breath slammed into her with the force of a blizzard. Peril had fought Icewings before in Scarlet's arena, and any time they'd tried to use their frostbreath on her it had only numbed her for a few minutes. So it was quite a shock when Peril felt herself buckle beneath the force of the guard's frostbreath, her muscles straining from the shock of the blast.

For the first time in her life, Peril felt truly _cold_.

She struggled to stand, the ice sizzling as it hit her scales, creating a billowing plume of steam that enveloped her and the Frostguard. Crystals formed along her body and encased her muzzle; Peril felt her body shaking, and discovered she was shivering.

 _What an odd feeling,_ she thought hysterically, sudden fear threatening to swamp her. _So this is what being cold feels like._

Vaguely she heard the guards shouting, likely stunned to see her survive one of their deadly blasts. She groaned and breathed a weak jet of fire through the steam. She had to warm up, before they could—

Peril was knocked to the ground as another gale of ice struck her, this time from her left. She snarled and attempted to face her aggressor, only to blind herself in the storm of ice and snow. Great moons, it hurt. Her body was aching now from the cold, as if a thousand dragons had stabbed their claws into her body, particularly her extremities.

"Use your frostbreath! The firescales can't resist our breath for long." The heavy mist muted the order, as if Peril had snow caked in her ears. Huh. Maybe she did; Peril shook herself roughly, and a wave of ice crystals showered the air.

"Clay?" Her voice was barely a whisper, so hard was it to speak through her chattering teeth. "C-Clay? Where are y-you?"

Dark shapes loomed in the mist. More frostbreath descended on her from all directions. Pathetically, Peril curled herself into a ball, trying to use her wings to shield herself from the cruel tempest around her.

"C-Clay…help m-me…"

She couldn't feel anything anymore, not her limbs, not even her heartbeat. All she felt, all she knew, was the cold.

"…h-h-help…"

Roars. Shouts. Suddenly the whirlwind around her vanished. Shadows passed overhead, demons swooping in to end her miserable existence. Peril peeked over her wing. The shadows were falling on the Frostguard, tearing at them like tiny insects ripping apart a huge giant. One fell, then another. More shadows swooped overhead as the mist began to dissipate.

Peril blinked blearily. She felt so tired, so weak, a newly hatched dragonet mewling for its mother.

A blurry brown shape landed and rushed to her side. His voice was muffled and low.

"Peril? What happened?"

She gazed up at the dragon. It was Clay, the sun silhouetting him like an angel. Peril felt warm, knowing he was here to rescue her.

"…c…c…"

"Reed! Get the healers NOW! Peril, stay with me. No, don't close your eyes. Keep looking at me, stay awake. Oh moons, please no, please…"

Peril didn't understand. Why was Clay so worried? She felt positively cozy now. In fact, she felt like taking a short nap, now that Clay was here to keep watch over her.

"…Peril…stay…"

Her eyelids fluttered shut, open, shut. She felt someone shaking her, and lazily reached up to brush it off.

"…p…n…"

Darkness swallowed her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeah...one chapter a day definitely isn't working for me. I mean, I could push myself to do it, but I feel like my writing quality would drop a lot if I did. I think I need some time to mull over what I want each chapter to be, what scenes I need to create and such. I don't know, I feel guilty for having so many hiatuses in the history of me writing this story, so I wanted to make up for it a bit this spring break. Don't get me wrong, I accomplished a lot this break - at least, more than I did over winter break. Still, I can't help but wonder if I could have gotten a bit more done. Oh well.

Some of you were anticipating something going wrong. After all, it seemed like the dragonets were just steamrolling Blister, weren't they? Yeah, well, Blister always has a trick up her sleeve. Of course, Blister wasn't anticipating Peril coming in and throwing a wrench into things. Ooh boy, there's gonna be a lot of fallout from this chapter, for both sides. Is Peril going to make it? Is she even still alive? Sorry, you'll have to wait until next chapter to find out.

Speaking of next chapter...this story's actually coming to its end pretty soon. In terms of chapters, I'd estimate maybe four to five more chapters to go until the end. Shocking, isn't it? I must admit I never thought I would get this far when I began writing this last May. To see myself actually approaching the finish line is nothing short of spectacular. And you guys were there every step of the way! So thank you again for the umpteenth time for following along on this crazy adventure of mine.

~SpicyDog99


	26. Wings of Fire

Wings of Fire

Clay had endured many things over the years. He'd endured years of Kestrel's battle training under the mountain, and survived the escape through the underground river. He'd survived Scarlet's arena, and managed to escape the cruel queen's claws with all of his friends alive. From the Seawing palace to the steamy rainforest, from the lava-strewn slopes of the Nightwing volcano to the hot sands of Burn's stronghold, Clay had endured—stalwart, strong, and ever reliable to those he loved. Through the months of Blister's War he endured, through blood, pain, and sorrow he flew, always keeping faith that they could make it through. No matter what happened, as long as Clay had his friends and they had him, he had faith that they would be OK.

That faith was now crumbling to pieces.

He'd flown like a dragon possessed, grasping Peril by her chest and hugging her rapidly cooling body to his as he searched desperately for the healers. Dragons made way for him, carrying his shouts for help forward, until soon the entire Seawing army was abuzz with the news: Peril, the firescales, had fallen, and was in dire need of medical attention. Reed came to Clay's side, and it wasn't long before Sunny, Tsunami, and the rest joined him. While the Seawing army chased Blister's retreating forces further west, Clay brought Peril to the healer's quarters, where the healer's quickly set to work. They wrapped blankets around her and rubbed her limbs, starting a fire and placing the hot coals around her so she could soak up the heat.

And yet despite their best efforts, Peril's body temperature continued to drop. Her previously violent shivering had become nothing more than a few occasional twitches, and the frost kept creeping across her scales, turning them dark crimson. Her wings were in the most jeopardy, the frost coating them in silver, the membrane beneath nearly black in color. Her chest barely rose at all, and Clay could only just feel her heartbeat when he pressed his claw to her chest. She lay, statuesque, on a padded bed in the healer's tent, swarmed by both Moorhen and Coral's healers.

A tight rope was constricting Clay's chest. His scales felt heavy, his limbs frozen in place, as he watched the dragon he loved struggle to live while he sat by helplessly. He clenched his jaws until his teeth hurt, the pain briefly distracting him from the widening hole in his heart. He suddenly felt short of breath, and in an effort to do something he turned to Sunfish, who was overseeing the healers' attempts to revive Peril.

"Sunfish," he gasped. "Is Peril…"

The older Seawing met his gaze. Her expression was not hopeful.

"Clay. I'm sorry, we're doing the best we can."

She stepped to the side as a Mudwing hurtled out of the tent, returning shortly with a pail filled with fresh coals. The combination of the blankets, coals, and the press of bodies within the tent made it unbearably stuffy, but Clay refused to leave until he was sure that Peril would live.

"Will she live?"

Sunfish sighed. "I don't know, Clay. Things are looking grim for her right now."

"Tell me what you know."

She looked at him, concern written on her face. "It's not pretty. You sure you want to hear it?"

No. To be honest, he didn't want to know what kind of tortuous experience Peril was going through right now. But not knowing would only leave him feeling worried, wrung-out. Much as he feared the diagnosis, being left in the dark would only make him fear for Peril's life even more.

"Tell me."

Sunfish turned away. A mask fell over her, the practiced, neutral expression of a healer falling neatly into place.

"Her temperature is still dropping, despite everything we're doing to change it. Icewing frostbreath is hard to stop at the best of times. Peril stood in the path of four of Icicle's Frostguard. We know from firsthand experience that their breath is colder than those of most Icewings—most ordinary dragons would be a frozen block of ice within minutes. An encounter with the Frostguard is usually certain death."

She glanced at Clay. Her next words were tinged with amazement.

"But that didn't happen to Peril. Her _firescales_ saved her—the sheer intensity of her heat was enough to ward off the frostbreath until you and the rest of the Seawings arrived. Without that extra heat there's no way she'd be alive right now."

Clay would have laughed, if he knew how. To think that the one thing that plagued Peril's existence, the curse that labeled her a monster among her tribe, was now the only thing keeping her in this world…

"Still, her firescales can only keep her warm for so long. The frostbreath has decreased her body temperature to the point that it can start spreading easily. I don't know how long we can contain it." She gulped visibly. "I don't know if we can."

Clay's heart dropped into his stomach as he remembered what Starflight had told him about the former Nightwing queen, Queen Battlewinner, and the lengths she went to in order to keep the frostbreath from killing her. She'd had to resort to sitting in a giant vat of lava in order to keep it from spreading. Of course, that wasn't an option for Peril currently, as they had no access to lava or any method of utilizing it.

"We'll keep working, Clay." Sunfish wrapped her tail around Clay's, squeezing it in a soothing gesture. "We'll do whatever it takes to keep Peril alive."

The words echoed around in Clay's head, knocking against each other like headless chickens running amok. The world faded into a distant murmur as he gazed despairingly at Peril's body.

 _You're part of my troop, Peril, along with everyone else. I'm not going to let you face her alone._

The memory slapped Clay hard. He hid his head behind his wing, unable to face Peril any longer. He scrunched his eyes shut, guilt swallowing him from the inside out.

A commotion from outside brought him out of his misery. Clay lifted his head just as the tent flap burst open, and a little pink Seawing came striding in.

"What's going on?" said Anemone. "What happened to Peril?"

Sunfish practically jumped. "Princess Anemone! I—"

"Sunfish. I keep hearing things about frostbreath from the soldiers outside." She stepped up to Sunfish and Clay, looking between them both, waiting for an answer that Sunfish shortly gave.

"Peril was attacked by Icicle's Frostguard. Her firescales kept the frostbreath at bay, but now it's spreading. We—"

Sunfish stopped. A nervous, yet hopeful smile was spreading across Anemone's face.

"I, uh, might be able to help with that."

Before Clay could respond the tent flap burst open again. In stormed Tsunami.

"Anemone," she said, "think about this for a second. You have no idea if it's going to work. It might backfire, or do something crazy that we…"

Her tirade petered off when she noticed Clay and Sunfish.

"Anemone," said Clay, his voice quiet. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Silence fell between the four dragons, broken only by the voices of the healers as they frantically tended to Peril. One of the healers cursed, shouting, "We need more heat!" Immediately the Mudwing with the pail headed for the exit, but Anemone reached out a wing to stop him.

"No need. I'll handle this."

The healers went silent, giving each other confused looks before turning to Sunfish. The chief healer raised a claw in command.

"Let the princess through."

Slowly, the healers dipped their heads and moved to the side, allowing Anemone to walk up to Peril's motionless body, Clay and Tsunami flanking her on both sides. Clay didn't know what was more worrying—the sight of frost lining Peril from head to tail, or the mountain of coals plastered to her sides that still couldn't thaw her out.

"Anemone," he whispered, "whatever you're going to do, do it quick. Peril can't hold on much longer."

Anemone nodded. She closed her eyes, concentrating, working her animus magic. Tsunami caught Clay's gaze, the unspoken question heavy in the air between them.

"I trust her," said Clay. "She can do it."

He sounded confident in Tsunami's sister, but the truth was he was so desperate to save Peril that letting Anemone, a young untrained animus, use her magic to stop the frostbreath actually sounded like a good idea.

Anemone remained immobile for a scary length of time, crouched in front of peril, eyes screwed shut. Her breathing was steady, though as time went on it became labored. Her muscles twitched, her eyes flitted rapidly behind her eyelids. A small squeak of pain escaped her. She whispered something.

"It's…it's not working."

Clay's throat closed up. Tsunami looked ready to drag Anemone out of the tent.

"Anemone," she said, "don't put—"

"Ssh," said Anemone, growling quietly. "I can do this…just a little more…"

Her claws clenched the dirt, digging deep furrows into the ground. Her wings were plastered against her flanks, and she shuddered, coiled tight like a spring. A groan of pain built up in her throat, prompting Tsunami to wheel toward Clay.

"Clay, it's not working. We've got to—"

Anemone roared, arching her back and screaming to the sky. Her eyes flew open, glowing with supernatural bright light. Then, tendrils of silky, rose-colored light rose from the gaps between her scales, drifting through the air to Peril's body. Everyone in the tent froze as the tendrils wrapped around Peril, melding with her scales. Wherever the tendrils touched, the frostbreath retreated, receding like the waters of the bay at low tide, until finally every trace of it was good. Peril's coppery scales returned to their bright hue, and her breathing steadied as she slumbered in peace. Sunfish approached from the side, eyeing Peril in wonderment, before giving Clay and Tsunami a nod of confirmation.

 _By the swamps,_ thought Clay. _She's done it. Anemone has saved Peril._

Gradually the tendrils of light faded. Anemone's eyes returned to normal, and she slumped forward, exhausted.

"Anemone." Tsunami reached out and wrapped a wing of support around her sister. "Are you OK?"

The little Seawing nodded, blinking blearily. "Yeah."

"You did it." Clay's voice cracked, and he fought to keep the tears from overwhelming as he hugged Anemone as well. "The frostbreath is gone. Peril's going to live."

Anemone's eyelids fluttered.

"That's…good to hear…"

And then she passed out, leaving Clay and Tsunami to hoist her limp body over to another bed where she could recuperate. With the emergency resolved, Sunfish shooed the other dragons out of the tent, giving Clay some much welcomed breathing space. The healer checked on Peril and Anemone, proclaiming them both to be healthy, just tired.

"They've both been through a lot," she said. "I expect Anemone will wake up in a couple hours, once she's recovered from the energy she spent on her magic. Peril make take a couple more days—we stopped the frostbreath, but it's already done quite some damage."

Sunfish laid a claw on Peril's forehead, frowning.

"Her body temperature still seems low, at least compared to her normal temperature. In fact, she feels like a normal Skywing now."

Clay perked up. "Normal? You mean Peril—"

Sunfish held up a claw. "Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. Could be her temperature will go back up as she heals. I just wanted to let you know, so you wouldn't worry."

She left shortly afterwards, allowing a quiet moment for Clay and Tsunami.

"That was scary," said Tsunami, stroking Anemone's sleeping form. "I've never seen Anemone do something like that."

"Me neither," said Clay.

"I hope this doesn't hurt Anemone." Tsunami sighed, and for once Clay got to see the protective older sister come out from behind the façade of the headstrong Seawing warrior. "Anemone thinks that using her animus powers for healing and the like might stop the curse—but that was something big she just did. I don't know what it will do to her."

Clay couldn't think of anything to say; animus magic was far beyond what he dealt with on a daily basis. So he fell back on what he did know how to do. Comfort his friends.

"She's a strong dragon," he said. "She'll pull through, Tsunami. I know it."

Tsunami smiled wanly. "Thanks, Bigwings."

She got up. "I'll go tell the others the news. Keep an eye on Anemone for me?"

He nodded, staying to watch over Peril and Anemone alone. In the silence of the tent, he could only hear their calm, steady breathing. He reached out and laid his claw over Peril's.

 _You can do it, Peril. You brought me back from the brink, and I'll do the same for you._

He held vigil over Peril over the next two days, only leaving the tent to grab some food every once and a while. Anemone woke up hours after fainting, and was quickly ushered off to Coral's side, leaving Clay alone in the tent with Peril. Occasionally Sunfish or one of his friends would pop in to accompany him, but for the most part he was alone, staying steadfastly be Peril's side. He'd turned down every one of Sunfish's offers to let her watch over Peril. He wanted to do this. Peril needed him now, and he wasn't going to let her down.

Her scales stayed lukewarm, never rising back to the blistering temperature that they'd previously been at. It brought the nagging suspicion back to Clay—had the excessive exposure to frostbreath actually cured Peril of her firescales? It would be a fantastic turn of events. Peril wouldn't be treated like a monster by her tribe anymore for something she had no control over.

Though it seemed Peril's reputation had changed regardless of her firescales, as Clay learned the day after the battle when Ruby paid him a visit.

"Queen Ruby." Surprised, Clay hastily bowed to the Skywing queen.

"At ease, Clay," she said. Under the low light of the healer's tent, Clay saw numerous bandages wrapped around Ruby's wounds.

"I just wanted to check up on Peril," she said.

Clay shot her a skeptical look. The last time Ruby had met Peril face to face, things didn't go well.

"What's it to you?" It was brash, even outright disrespectful, but Clay wanted to know why the queen who'd cast out Peril was now suddenly here to check on her well-being.

"Things have changed, Clay," said Ruby, stepping over to Peril's body. Her gaze flickered over Peril, and Clay saw genuine regret on Ruby's face. Regret, and humility.

"Do you know how many Skywings I have left under my command?"

She turned to Clay, who shook his head.

"Less than a hundred. I lost dozens of flights yesterday, when Blister and Icicle brought their armies down on mine. We were backed up against the mountains, with nowhere left to run. Coral's Seawings were our only hope of surviving."

Ruby looked away, and her voice took on a haunted tone.

"If Peril hadn't been there, she would have killed every last one of us. The Skywings would have lost their queen, and their army would have been destroyed. There'd be nothing to stop Blister from invading the Claws of the Clouds, slaughtering my tribe, and claiming the mountains as hers."

Ruby curled her tail up, frightened. She faced Clay again.

"I…we did not treat Peril fairly. As a tribe we've cast out a dragon whose only crime was to exist. Despite that, Peril chose to save her fellow Skywings, and almost lost her life in the process. I don't take that kind of self-sacrifice lightly; we owe Peril, big time. From this day forward, I will welcome Peril into the tribe as I would any other Skywing. It's the least I can do for her, and I hope you accept my apologies for how I treated her before."

Clay stood, jaw slightly agape, at this sudden reversal in Ruby's attitude. Quickly, he shut his mouth and inclined his head to Ruby.

"I accept, Your Majesty."

She laughed. "Please, Ruby is fine. All of you—you, Peril, and the rest of your friends—have earned my respect and admiration. Together we've dealt a blow to Blister that she'll feel for a long time."

Clay smiled. Amidst the heartache and terror at seeing Peril nearly die, he'd almost forgotten that they'd won the battle. News had come in that Blister's Sandwings had retreated far into the rainforest, while the Icewings were nowhere to be seen. Morale in the camp was at an all-time high—already the soldiers were celebrating their victory with feasting, songs and games. For the first time in a long while, defeating Blister seemed like an actual possibility, not just a hopeless fantasy.

"Peril's already a hero among my troops," said Ruby. "They call her the 'Wings of Fire' now. A fitting title, I think. She's become such a part of your group, hasn't she? As if she were a prophecy dragonet all along?"

Clay cringed a bit inside. The irony of that title…

"Anyway, I just wanted to check on Peril," said Ruby, turning to leave. "Keep me informed on her condition, alright?"

And so Clay returned to his vigil, as evening of the second day gave way to night, then morning of the third. Peril's temperature continued to stay low, and by now Clay knew for a fact that her firescales were gone. Clay felt both jubilant and worried. On the one hand, Peril could finally live a normal life, and not feel guilty about something that she had no control over. On the other hand, her firescales had become such a part of her identity that Clay didn't know how she would feel having them removed so suddenly.

He'd have to find out when Peril woke up.

His vigil continued through the third day. By now he was starting to worry. Was Peril going to wake up at all? Sunfish assured him she would, but the worm of that thought kept wriggling at the back of his mind until evening, when, for the first time in three days, Peril stirred.

A bright blue eye opened and immediately locked on Clay. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Clay?"

Gently, Clay pressed his forehead against hers.

"You're safe, Peril. You're OK now."

A single, fat tear slid from the corner of Clay's eye, down his snout, and dripped onto Peril's scales.

The tear did not vaporize.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blister watched as her alliance crumbled to pieces.

The Icewings had gone into a full-blown panic upon seeing their princess murdered by that firescales mongrel. They fled in all directions, trying to avoid this monster that could effortlessly withstand their frostbreath. Only the Frostguard had made any attempt at stopping the firescales, but before they could kill it the rest of Coral's army had showed up and put an end to any hopes of victory that Blister had held. No—that day was to be a resounding, humiliating defeat.

She'd pulled her forces back to the rainforest, using what scant cover remained after the wildfire to stay hidden. So far the dragonets hadn't tried to pursue her forces, though she knew they'd eventually make a move into the rainforest. Taking stock of her forces, she discovered that, despite the losses, her army was more or less intact. They'd taken some heavy blows, and lost a number of troops, but it was nothing they couldn't handle.

The same could not be said for the Icewings.

Blister had expected Tundra and Narwhal to take command after Icicle's demise. Sure, they'd be sad and heartbroken over their dead daughter, but there would be time for them to mourn _after_ they defeated the dragonets. Unfortunately, Icicle was Tundra and Narwhal's only claim to the Icewing throne—by tradition, sister-in-laws were not eligible. What's more, Tundra and Narwhal had become increasingly unpopular as the war dragged on, with many Icewings grumbling about fighting in the balmy south, wishing only to return to their homes in the north.

So when news reached Blister several days after the battle that a large mutiny had occurred among the Icewings' ranks, she wasn't entirely surprised. Furious? Yes, but not surprised. She'd immediately gone over to the Icewing camp with a contingent of troops, but by then it was too late. Half the camp had disappeared already, and the remaining half was milling about, unsure what to do and who it was they answered to now. Tundra and Narwhal were nowhere to be found. Blister was left speaking to their son, Winter, who had stayed hidden through the action.

"What in the blazing suns happened here?" she demanded.

"What does it look like?" he grumbled, glaring. Blister wondered if he always had a glare plastered on his face.

"You useless Icewings…a single one of you dies and half your army deserts? What kind of…" Blister roared, stamping around. Winter ducked as her barbed tail whistled through the air mere claw-lengths from his face.

"Where are your parents, Winter? I need to have a stern word with them."

"I wouldn't know," came his maddeningly calm reply. "They ran too when the mutineers came for them. Took the surviving Frostguard and flew off to moons know where."

Blister stared down at the Icewing prince, who grumpily picked at his talons.

"You're telling me," she said, voice low and dangerous, "that _you_ are the only Icewing royalty left?"

He shrugged. "Other than my cousin, Snowfall."

"Snowfall? I thought you killed her, along with the rest of Glacier's family."

Winter shook his head. "Didn't have time. You were demanding our troops as soon as possible, so mother and father took the easy route and just exiled Glacier's mate and dragonets." He squinted, face scrunched up in what looked like a wry smile. "That's probably where the mutineers are headed—back to the Ice Kingdom to kneel before Snowfall. She has the best claim to the throne, after all."

He looked up, cocking her head at her furious expression. "Don't pop a vein, Your Majesty. At least you still have your army. I just have a ragtag band of dragons, most of whom don't answer to me. I hate to say it, but I don't think the Icewings will be able to help you in your war any longer."

Blister growled, tail lashing back and forth. "You traitorous wyrms. I promised you treasure, territory, and power, and _this_ is how you repay me? With defeat and desertion?"

"Your 'promises' have so far amounted to a six month long siege in a dirty swamp," Winter shot back. Blister saw not a single ounce of fear in his sour expression. "Besides, you're blaming the wrong dragon. I had nothing to do with this. I was just dragged along for the ride. You want to hurt someone? I'd recommend you start with my parents."

"You don't seem very concerned for them."

"Pssh, why should I?" He lifted a talon, tracing its edge with his other claw. "They hardly care about me. I've been virtually disowned since Hailstorm's death. No. Do what you want. I couldn't care less."

The last thing Blister wanted to do was beg—her pride wouldn't allow it. But right now she couldn't see any other option.

"Will you at least leave your Icewings here? What few you still have under your command?"

He shrugged. "I already said, I don't command most of the dragons here. Just a few personal guards, and they'll hardly be of help. If you can somehow convince the others to fight for you, then go right ahead. I wish you luck in the endeavor."

"Wish me luck? What do you mean?"

Winter stood.

"I'm leaving. There's nothing left for me in this decrepit corner of Pyrrhia."

Blister swept her wings open, hoping to intimidate Winter.

"No. You're staying right here, Icewing."

He scowled at her. "Or what? You'll kill me? You know that won't help anything."

She snarled. "Fine. You name it, and I'll give it to you. Treasure. Territory. Power. Name your terms, and I'll meet them."

He stared at her for a second, before scoffing.

"The only thing I want is to return to my kingdom and have some moons-begotten peace and quiet. And that is something you can never offer me."

Then he left, his guards swooping in behind him, leaving Blister fuming, alone and without allies, in the middle of the Icewing camp. She stayed, long after they were gone, gazing at the abandoned remains of the camp, before turning to leave for her camp.

Her mother's ghostly laughter echoed on the winds.

* * *

 **A/N:** She lives! Peril doesn't bite the dust! Some of you in your reviews were wondering if I'd kill off Peril. Believe it or not, that was originally my plan - the outline I'd penned last summer said that this was the place where Peril's journey would come to the end. She'd sacrifice herself as a martyr and end up being something that the dragonets fight for. But, as I approached this section of the story, I began to wonder if offing Peril was really a good idea. Doing so would utterly destroy Clay, and honestly I'm not sure if Peril's death would have served the story. I'm not really a fan of killing of characters for the sake of killing off characters (*cough*Jon Snow*cough*); in fact, a professor I had for a writing course here at college said that it was better to maim characters instead of killing them. I can see the reasoning behind that - maiming characters puts them through pain and turmoil, which in turn leads to character development, whereas killing off characters simply removes them from the story.

So that's why I spared Peril's life. Honestly, I did push her close to the brink. I'm actually not sure, canon-wise, what would happen if Peril got hit by so much frostbreath at once. The WoF Wiki says frostbreath "numbs" her for a few moments, that's it. But, well, Peril was attacked by Frostguard, who are supposed to be Icewing elite soldiers, so it might not be too far of a stretch to say they can kill her with their breath. Obviously her scales would slow the attack, and that's what gave Peril a fighting chance. Speaking of which, how's Peril going to do _without_ her firescales now? How's life going to be for her as a normal Skywing? Let me know what you think, and I'll catch you guys in the next chapter, when we start showing ol' Blister who's boss. :)

~SpicyDog99


	27. To the Future

To the Future

The tide turned quickly.

With the Seawings bolstering their forces, the Dragons of Destiny pushed forward with confidence, striking swiftly and pushing their advantage. They'd caught Blister on the wrong wing for once, and they weren't going to let this opportunity go to waste. With the Icewing army in shambles, the Queen of Poison was no longer the overpowering, menacing force that they'd struggled to survive against. Blister had blundered—and if it could happen once, it could certainly happen again.

They reclaimed the rainforest, bit by bloody bit. The fighting dissolved into skirmishes between the trees, Blister's troops fighting a guerilla war as they retreated west toward the Claws of the Clouds. Gone were the pitched battles; they were chasing shadows among the undergrowth, fighting specters that vanished as quickly as they appeared in the darkness beneath the canopy. Further north, Queen Ruby was following their lead, reclaiming her mountains in tandem with Coral and Moorhen.

It was tough going, but they trekked on through mud and brush, stormy weather and hot muggy days. While her friends were busy handling the war, Glory looked after her Rainwings and Nightwings, attending to the needs of her ragtag tribes as best as she could. Both tribes had suffered much in the course of the war, after losing their home and being forced on the run. They were downtrodden, exhausted, and wished only to return to the normality of their former lives: relaxing under the sun for the Rainwings, and rebuilding the village for the Nightwings.

Glory wanted to give her dragons what they wished. Unfortunately, she soon discovered that keeping her dragons happy was a lot harder than she'd thought.

She noticed it after the Nightwings rejoined them. There was a definite rift between the Rainwings and the Nightwings, a chasm that had only widened with the events of the past year. The groups remained separate within the camp, an invisible border drawn between the two areas they each staked as their own. Suspicious looks and hissed rumors were thrown around everywhere, and Glory could see that both tribes were uncomfortable in each other's presence.

"I don't want anything to happen," she'd said to Deathbringer one evening during their stroll through the camp. "I'll see if Moorhen can spare some guards to keep the peace."

Deathbringer agreed. "But it won't solve the problem. You know that, right?"

"It won't. But we have enough things to deal with right now. As long as nothing big happens, I think the Rainwings and Nightwings will be fine. Once we've liberated the rainforest I can see about bringing down tensions."

He didn't say anything to that. She hoped that meant he agreed, though it was never easy to tell what was going on behind those dark eyes of his.

Then conflicts began to arise between the two tribes. They started as small grumblings of discontent, but grew with each passing day until Glory could no longer ignore them. Accusations sprang up on both sides—someone had taken something, or infringed on someone else's space, or acted disrespectfully, and so on. Always the accusations were directed at members of the opposing tribe, and always they were vehemently denied. Glory did her best to address the major issues, but by now a growing ball of unease had settled in the pit of her stomach as tensions between the tribes became palpable, like a jungle vine pulled taut.

It all came to a head one steamy afternoon. They were closing in on the ruins of the Rainwing village, and the destruction caused half a year ago during Blister's first attack. A recent storm had turned the undergrowth soggy, and neither Rainwing nor Nightwing seemed happy to be trudging through mud again. Glory shared in their distaste. They'd left the Mud Kingdom weeks ago, and here she was still cleaning mud from her scales every night.

A commotion in camp caught her attention. Low growls became shrill screeching as an argument exploded somewhere in the Nightwing camp. Cursing, Deathbringer flew ahead to break up the fight while Glory followed behind. By the time she got there the fight had been broken up already, though the combatants were still yowling like cats.

"What's going on here?" said Glory, throwing on an intimidating shade of orange.

"Your Majesty, you came just in time," gasped a distressed looking Rainwing. Her scales were lime-green with splotches of indignant violet, and she hugged a pair of quivering dragonets to her chest. "This _Nightwing_ just attacked these two dragonets for no reason!"

"I was defending my son!" screamed the Nightwing opposite the Rainwing, who was being restrained by a pair of Mudwing guards. She growled and thrashed, but the two hefty guards held her still. Crouched behind her was a sniveling little hatchling, barely a year old by the looks of it.

"Liar," hissed the Rainwing, and voices of agreement rose around her.

"What happened, Deathbringer?" Glory demanded, turning to him.

"They were already fighting when I got here," he said, "and it was all I could do to separate them before the spit could start flying. I couldn't say who started it, they insist on blaming each other."

"The Nightwing started it," someone hollered. "Saw it myself, just went crazy and attacked those poor Rainwing dragonets."

"Those dragonets were picking on my son," spat the Nightwing mother. "I'm not the negligent parent here. If the Rainwings won't corral their young, then I have no choice but to step in myself."

By now a sizeable crowd had gathered, Rainwings and Nightwings congregating on their respective sides. The crowd cheered and booed with each accusation, making their opinion known loud and clear. Glory's muzzle drew back in a grimace as anger crackled in the air. As Deathbringer stepped forward to keep the crowd apart, she stepped carefully over to where the dragonets were huddled, watching everything with keen, nervous eyes.

She lowered her head towards the Nightwing hatchling, who shrank away from her. The Nightwing mother twitched apprehensively.

"M-my queen…"

"What's your name, miss?"

"Soul…Soulbinder."

Glory met the mother's eyes. "What did you see?" she asked quietly.

A hush fell over the crowd. Soulbinder took an unsteady breath and said, "I was working on the thatching for our sleeping mats. I left my son Swiftwing to play around close by—he never goes far from me, and he always comes when I call. Then suddenly I heard this terrible shrieking, and when I looked up, those two were clawing at my son and shouting terrible things." She finished her statement with a pointed claw at the Rainwing dragonets, and they growled in response.

"What kind of things?"

Soulbinder bared her teeth. "They called my son a dark-scaled devil, and told him to get out of their space! Any mother in my place would defend her child if he was being bullied like that."

The surrounding Nightwings echoed her words with agreement. Glory turned to the Rainwing.

"Do you have anything to say to that?"

"Pssh. Dragonets will act like dragonets. I don't see any reason to get worked up over childish name-calling. As for the fighting…" She looked at the crowd around her, and, emboldened, said, "This is our side of the camp. If your dragonet stumbled across the border, then he needs to be reminded of his place."

"This wouldn't be necessary," shrieked Soulbinder, "if you rain sloths would do your job as parents and keep your dragonets under control! This isn't the first time Swiftwing has been bullied like this, and not once have I seen any Rainwings step in to stop it. What if my son was spat on, huh? My son could have been permanently maimed by your reckless dragonets."

"There is nothing to be done, Nightwing. You are here at _our_ queen's behest. Show us some respect before you demand any for yourself. Moons know you and your kind deserve to be brought down a rung after what you've done to us."

"I've done _nothing_ to you! The Rainwings started it with—"

"—our rainforest, not yours. You're in no place to—"

"Can you believe these rain sloths? How can they—"

"—despicable dark spawn, nothing but troublemakers and hooli—"

"Silence!" Deathbringer roared as the Mudwing guards shoved into the crowd, using their spears to keep the crowd from turning into a riot. The shouting and struggling intensified, and it took several more moments—and additional Mudwing guards—before the crowd quieted enough for Glory to speak.

"Border? _Border?_ " Her scales flushed an indignant red. "Since when did I decree a border between the Rainwings and Nightwings? We're one tribe, are we not?"

She prowled over to the Rainwing. "Tell me, are Nightwings not allowed into your part of the camp?"

She hesitated at Glory's stern look. "We agreed to it," she stammered. "The elders, including a few of the old queens. We don't feel safe with dark scales among us."

The old queens. Glory should have known they'd still be trouble. She'd see about having a talk with them after this.

"And you didn't come to your _current_ queen for help?"

"With all due respect, Queen Glory, we felt not enough was being done. With the camp so involved in the war, we've had to take measures to secure our own safety. Surely you would agree, my queen? The tribe comes first."

"And? The Nightwings don't count as part of the tribe?"

The Rainwing frowned. "It's not our fault they can't change their scale color. Surely you understand, my queen. Scale color means everything for us."

 _It does, doesn't it?_ Glory glanced at the crowd of Rainwings, and saw a few shifting their scales to bright, garish colors, flaunting their colorful dispositions like peacocks; it was a common method to intimidate foes, to show off and outmatch others. She then turned to the Nightwings, a huddled mass of black scales that was utterly at odds with the rainbow of colors the Rainwings possessed.

 _These Rainwings,_ thought Glory, _they don't know that they're being unjust. How can they, when scale color is like fashion to them?_

An idea popped into Glory's head, one that she'd never imagined trying before. Calming her furious mind, she shifted her scales from vibrant red to the deepest of blacks, as close to the shades of the Nightwings around her as she could get. She even tried adding a few sprinkles of silver scales under her wings, though she wasn't sure how successful she was. Regardless she achieved the desired effect, as she heard gasps sweep through the crowd at her new appearance.

Without slowing a beat Glory swept forward into the crowd, and the Rainwings parted around her, some even trying to mimic her transformation. When she reached the edge of the crowd she spun and regarded her subjects.

"Why didn't you try to stop me?"

Confused looks spread among the Rainwings. Someone sputtered, "Uh, Your Majesty?"

"You said you don't feel safe with dark scales among you." Glory retraced her steps back to the Rainwing who'd she spoken with first. "So you ought to bar your own queen from interacting with her tribe."

Uneasy murmurs drifted from the crowd. The Rainwing balked, before stuttering, "But Your Majesty, that's ridiculous! We love you, and trust you. We'd never drive you away, no matter what color you decide to wear."

"Then why would you drive out your fellow Nightwings? They can't help what color they are. Punishing them for something they have no control over is not something that I will allow as queen." She glared at the Rainwings. "And it's not something my dragons should stoop to either."

Calming herself, Glory turned to all who were present, a pleading look in her eyes. "Enough is enough. We are one tribe now, and divisions like these only hurt us as a whole. If we truly want peace, if we want one whole tribe instead of two tribes forced together…then we need to stop these pointless disputes."

She swept her eyes over the crowd, and was met with looks of guilt and shame. _Good. This is a lesson we all need to learn._

"There will be no 'borders'. A Nightwing should be free to travel among Rainwings, and vice versa. I don't expect you all to instantly forget the things that have happened in the past, but I do expect you to see past your differences and attempt to make amends. Like it or not, we are all in this together. Yes?"

"Well spoken, my queen," said Soulbinder, who looked noticeably relieved. "But what does this mean for me and my son? And for all of us on both sides who have been wronged?"

She felt the intense gazes of all the dragons trained on her. Fear, anger, anxiety, despair—they mixed and blended in the air into an oppressive miasma. It sickened Glory. They were crushing Blister, and here they were still living in fear, of each other no less, as if nothing whatsoever had changed.

 _We can't live like this. It's a war waiting to happen._

"If any of you were personally harmed," she declared, "or if a loved one was personally harmed in an incident, I'd like you to come to me and talk to me in private. I will reach out to the ones who hurt you, and see if I can agree on some form of recompense. For anything less, I'd ask that you turn the other wing. Possessions can be replaced, and trespass can be overlooked. For the good of everyone, it is best that we tolerate and respect each other instead of constantly pointing talons and pinning blame on the other side. Understood?"

She saw nods all around, and was pleased with the overall effect. There were still a few surreptitious glares and grumblings, but she ignored them. It was enough progress for now.

"I want this to be the last such incident that I need to intervene in. Soulbinder, if you still wish to discuss your son with me, meet me by the commander's hut half an hour from now." Soulbinder nodded, shepherding her dragonet away, and the crowd began to disperse when it became clear nothing else was going to happen. With the crisis averted, Glory plodded over to Deathbringer, who gently wrapped a wing around her.

"That was impressive, Glory."

"I try to make a habit of it," she joked, though as the heat of the moment passed she felt more drained than anything. "Still, I'm not eager to deal with another confrontation like this. This one almost turned violent at a couple points."

"But you talked both sides down. That's all that matters." He nuzzled her neck, and the effect was soothing on Glory's frayed nerves.

"I seem to recall you had a part in it," she said, "shoving your way into the crowd like that. You weren't scared someone was going to spit at you?"

"Pssh, no," came his nonchalant reply. "I'm indestructible, remember?"

Glory rolled her eyes. "And yet you're terrified of scavengers. How does that work?"

"I'm not scared of them. I just have…uh…a very strong distaste of them."

She snorted. "You're hopeless."

They wandered back towards the direction of the main body of the camp, meandering slowly through the trees and thick underbrush, giving Glory time to clear her mind. Despite her good feelings from the speech, she couldn't quite squash the foreboding instinct that things had not truly been resolved.

"Death, am I doing the right thing?" She gave him an imploring look, her scales shifting to an ambivalent gray. "I used to be a lot harder on the Nightwings back when they first arrived from the island, and the Rainwings loved me for it. Now…I want to cut the Nightwings some slack after all they've gone through, but it's hard for the Rainwings to accept that. They still remember what the Nightwings did to the kidnapped Rainwings." She sighed, and a splotch of despondent blue appeared across her muzzle. "Why does it feel like I'm flying against the current when I try to do the right thing?"

Deathbringer didn't say anything for a while. "That's a good question," he said at last.

Glory cocked an eyebrow at him. "What, no witty one liner or sage advice this time?"

"Come now, I'm but a simple assassin. This isn't my expertise." He appraised her with a dubious look. "Unless you're interested in the dozens of ways to kill a dragon?"

"Alright, point taken." She looked away. "I just—I don't know if the Rainwings and Nightwings can make peace. Or if they even want to."

Deathbringer stopped. Glory felt his claw on her muzzle as he reached out to turn her to meet his eyes.

"I know they will. Because they have a wise, selfless queen to lead them. A queen who is strong, yet compassionate, who is loyal to her dragons and always looks out for their well-being. I'm not going to kid you, Glory, these problems between the two tribes aren't going to vanish overnight. It might take months, years, or even generations before the hatred goes away. I should know. The Nightwings and the Icewings still can't stand each other, and it's been thousands of years since the war between our tribes."

He withdrew his claw and lowered his head to nuzzle Glory around her frill.

"It's going to be tough, and there will be times when we feel that nothing we do is working. But I know you'll keep trying Glory. You've never let anything stop you before, and you won't let this stop you either. You can do this. _We_ can do this. Whatever happens, know that I'll always be by your side to help you through. After all, we have to set a good example, don't we?"

Glory couldn't help but chuckle. "Fine. You have a point."

"That's the spirit." He tapped her blue snout and said, "Now enough of this moping. Blue never looked good on you anyway."

"Really?" said Glory sarcastically as Deathbringer stepped away. Nevertheless she changed her scales to a more suitable amber color. "So what does look good on me?"

Deathbringer cocked his head, a wicked grin spreading across his face, and Glory knew that she was going to regret saying that.

"Well, you were an unusual shade of deep rose early this morning. What was that all about?"

 _Oh moons,_ thought Glory, looking away in embarrassment. _He was awake for that._ She'd had a rather, well, _lurid_ dream last night involving her and Deathbringer doing some unspeakable things. In fact, such dreams were starting to become fairly frequent, even regular. The most frightening thing wasn't that she was having these dreams—it was that they'd stopped bothering her.

If she were being completely honest…she was starting to look forward to them.

"Just a dream," Glory blurted a little to quickly. She could tell by Deathbringer's look that he didn't believe it for one second.

"Must have been a pleasant dream, for your scales to look like that." He bared a fang in his traditional cocky grin, and Glory had to resist the sudden and absurd urge to rub herself against those gleaming, ebony scales.

"I was just…um…d-dreaming of the end of the war," said Glory. "Yep. And all the wonderful things that will happen once Blister is history. You know, peace and prosperity and all that."

"Was that all?" Deathbringer leaned in close, and Glory felt herself going slack-jawed. "You sure there wasn't anything—oh, I don't know, exciting?"

"I…uh…"

"What's this? Glory, queen of sass and sarcasm, completely speechless?" Deathbringer nodded firmly, setting his cool, knowing gaze on her. "Well. I know precisely what your dream involved. Nothing else could possibly silence you like this."

Glory sputtered. "You little—"

He turned and sauntered off, his tail swaying hypnotically. "Better keep your desires in check, milady. After all, we still have a war to win."

It took a few moments for Glory to finally collect herself and slam her jaws shut, her mind a seething mass of annoyance, disbelief, and some third emotion that she didn't want to acknowledge. Growling to herself about how much of a fruit bat he was, she stood up and followed Deathbringer's path back to camp, thankful that no one had been there to witness that embarrassing little exchange. She had an image to keep, after all.

It wasn't until she was in camp, and was starting to draw bemused looks from the Rainwings around her, that Glory realized her scales had turned deep rose.

* * *

There had been no more incidents since the one involving Soulbinder and her son. Glory had spoken with the Nightwing mother and, after some lengthy negotiations, managed to get an apology out of the two Rainwing dragonets that had bullied Swiftwing. Soulbinder seem satisfied, and reported that her son was no longer being harassed. Glory was happy to hear that, and as each day passed without conflict, she began to hope that things were getting better for her beloved tribe.

Meanwhile, they were slowly but steadily retaking the rainforest. They pushed west at a regular pace. In desperation, Blister's dragons began setting the forest on fire as they retreated, destroying large swaths of forest that had only just begun recovering from the ravages of war last year. Dark columns of smoke rose high into the sky, and ash fell with the rain, mixing with the underlying mud.

 _So much destruction,_ she thought, gazing out at the ashen ruins of what was once a lush forest brimming with life. She watched her Rainwings, and saw their haunted looks as they saw their home being destroyed.

 _Even if we win…will there be anything left for us to return to?_

She sighed, and a voice answered her.

"Feeling gloomy?"

She turned, startled slightly, to see Webs beside her. Glory fidgeted. She'd never really liked Webs in the past, knowing that he'd abducted her egg from the rainforest. Now…she wasn't sure what to think. Things had changed so much that her previously miserable life under the mountain felt like ages ago. Holding a grudge against Webs now felt immature.

"Yeah. I guess." Resettling her wings, she said, "No one told me war was such a messy business."

"It wouldn't be war if it weren't," he said. "It was the same in the War of the Sandwing Succession. The Sandwing sisters fought, and everyone suffered."

"Just like now." She recalled the past year, the amount of hardship they'd all gone through. Losing the rainforest, getting besieged in the Mud Kingdom. It was hard to imagine that it would all get better someday.

She couldn't tell what Webs was thinking. The Seawing had aged a lot—his scales were duller and more scratched, and he meandered with a halting gait that spoke of pain in his joints. He looked as tired of this war as she did.

"I hope this will all be worth it in the end," Glory murmured. "Peace is better for everyone, but if getting there is so painful…" She looked out over her tribe, and Webs followed her gaze. He stayed silent, though his gaze was filled with sympathy. Knowing what he'd gone through in the name of peace, Glory was sure he'd asked himself the same question countless times before.

"I'm sorry Webs," she said, shaking her head. "Just have a lot on my mind recently."

"No need to apologize." His snout lifted in a warm, fatherly smile. "Besides, I just came to wish you a happy hatching day."

"Hatching day?"

"You don't remember?" Webs cocked his head. "Today is your hatching day—you and the others all hatched eight years ago on this day, under—"

"—three full moons." She laughed a bit in wonder. "I'm eight years old. An adult now."

"How do you feel about it?"

Glory looked down at her claws, her scales roiling with a plethora of colors.

"The same, really. Well, no. I'm still me, but I feel like I've done more. I've become queen of the Rainwings, allowed the Nightwings into my tribe, watched and supported my friends through this war. I…I dunno." Unable to put her feelings into words, she looked at Webs beseechingly.

"You've found your destiny," he said simply.

She chuckled. "Yeah. I guess I have. We all have. The Dragons of Destiny," she said, chewing over the phrase. "I never would have imagined that escaping from the mountain would lead my life to this day."

"Funny how destiny works that way, hmm?"

Glory snorted. "You're sounding more like a Nightwing now, Webs."

He laughed gruffly, and then said, "Well, I just wanted to let you know the others are planning on celebrating tonight. You should join them. You deserve a break after all you've done."

And so she did. The whole camp celebrated that night, in honor of the five dragons that were leading them to victory against Blister's tyranny. The hunters had brought in a large catch, and the Rainwings had gathered a bountiful harvest of fruit for their queen. The air was filled with the smell of cooking meat and spices, with the sounds of laughter and enjoyment. Glory spotted Coral, Ruby, Moorhen, and Heron gathered together, the queens acting like old friends as they caught up on gossip. In the other direction, she saw Orchid and Mangrove sharing their food with Mastermind and Moonwatcher—a sight that made her do a double take, then smile. She saw Mudwings feasting and tussling, Skywings dancing and having friendly spars with Seawings. She saw Rainwings and Nightwings mingling, old foes putting aside the past to toast a peaceful future. She saw it all, and her scales turned pink in happiness.

This. This is what she wanted life to be like, for all the dragons of Pyrrhia.

And, as she relaxed in the company of her lifelong friends, she hoped that life could remain like this for many years to come.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm back, and about time too. Lot's of things happened, most of which isn't important enough to mention. All I can say is I'll do my best to finish this story as soon as possible. I'm aiming for early August as a deadline for myself, and if I can't make that then I'll try for the end of summer. Hopefully it won't come to that.

I feel like I've been neglecting Glory in this story. Most of the other dragonets have pretty defined roles in the story, and I have different chapters dedicated to them at regular intervals, but Glory hasn't gotten a full chapter since chapter 13! That's half the story ago. So I decided to have a chapter from her perspective as a sort of bridge between the previous action filled chapters and the finale coming up shortly. It also gave me an opportunity to show conflict between the Rainwings and Nightwings in greater detail, something I've been meaning to do for a while. I always felt like Glory leaned a bit too much toward the Rainwings' side in the books, so I wanted to present a situation where siding with her tribe goes against what she knows is right, and see how'd she react.

Also, I think I just fed the Glorybringer shippers some very juicy content...Hey, don't judge. It was very entertaining to write. :P JK, Deathbringer is totally the type to mercilessly tease Glory, and now that Glory is officially an _adult_ , their relationship can suddenly go to a whole new level.

It feels good to be back, guys. We don't have much farther to go, and this time I'm sticking around to the end. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one. Take care.

~SpicyDog99


	28. To Burn an Olive Branch

To Burn an Olive Branch

"Are you sure they've reached the edge of the kingdom?"

General Sahara hesitated a moment. Blister watched as she flicked her tongue, swaying her head from side to side like a cornered cobra sizing up a foe.

"Yes, my queen. Our scouts have reported seeing Seawings among the foothills of the Claws. The dragonets are not stopping."

"No," said Blister, flaring her nostrils. "They're coming right to the doorstep of my kingdom."

They were flying high above the stronghold, coasting on the warm morning thermals, discussing private matters out of range of prying ears. Below, the stronghold seethed with activity as dozens of dragons milled about, carrying out Blister's orders to prepare for battle. Soldiers drilled and trained, the harsh voices of officers echoed by the snarls and roars of the warriors as they sparred. Servants ferried messages and hauled supplies, flying to and fro across the vast sands of the kingdom to deliver the summons to Sandwings everywhere. Dust and sand hovered in the air, an unnatural haze made worse by the uneasy tension bearing down on every dragon in the palace that day.

The war was coming home. Like a thundering sandstorm it was descending upon them, and they needed to seek shelter fast.

Blister eyes followed the palace walls, the very walls that her late sister Burn had built specifically to keep her out. Ugly and streaked with old bloodstains, she'd wanted to tear those walls down once the dragonets were dealt with. Now, in a wry twist of fate, those walls were being reinforced as soldiers built fortifications and made repairs. It seemed Blister's psychopathic sister had left something of worth after all.

"Your Majesty?"

Blister shook her head. "I heard you."

A bare trace of a frown touched Sahara's face.

"I said that the stronghold is the only good place to hold out with our fewer numbers. It will mean fighting much closer to home, but we'll stand a better chance here."

Blister stared at her, the words finally catching on.

"What about the border? Can't we hold the Seawings back at the edge of the desert? They'll be at a disadvantage in a region with precious little water."

"I wouldn't advise that." Sahara's voice was flat and unwavering. "Our border is too long for us to patrol effectively. Ruby's Skywings will be following Coral's Seawings soon, and we don't want to be caught out in the open, far from support, where they can overwhelm us with their superior numbers."

Blister snarled. "Won't they do that anyway? The blasted Icewings have flown home and Fierceteeth's Nightwings are worthless. I'm not about to sit here and wait for those dragonets to cut us down."

Sahara waited for Blister's breathing to calm a bit before saying, "It's your call, my queen. If you want to confront the dragonets out near the foothills of the Claws, then I'll send the flights out now. But I can tell you now that it won't end well for any us. Here at the stronghold we at least stand a better a chance."

Sahara looked away. "Perhaps, if we're lucky, we can even save a few Sandwing lives."

Blister swiped at Sahara, who just managed to evade the long reach of her claws.

"General, if you so much as _mention_ surrender, you will be joining Fierceteeth in my dungeons."

The two Sandwings glared at each other—Blister puffing and furious, Sahara stony and unimpressed. A hot crosswind ruffled their wings, the leathery membranes fluttering against the disturbance.

"I've only ever offered my counsel," said the grizzled general. "I've always fought for the Sandwings, and I will do so to the day I die."

"Then why do I hear traitorous words coming out of your muzzle?" growled Blister.

Sahara fixed Blister with a keen, dark eye. "Is it treachery to value the lives of the dragons who fight, bleed, and die for you?"

"It's treachery for us to lie down and let those cursed dragonets destroy everything we've worked to achieve so far." Abruptly Blister pulled to a halt, forcing Sahara to turn and hover in midair, their wingbeats stroking the air in a steady rhythm.

"General, you've served me faithfully for years—first during the war against my sisters, and now during this war against the dragonets. You've never shown doubt or spoken out until now. Is there a reason for this sudden change of heart, Sahara?"

Sahara's gaze fell. Blister flicked her tongue. Though they were far from friends, Blister held a modicum of respect for the gruff Sandwing who'd first sided with her after Oasis's death. Other soldiers and officers had come and gone over the years, offed by war or Blister's innate distrust of others. Sahara had withstood that unofficial test of time, and she was one of the few dragons that Blister didn't worry would betray her.

At least, until now.

Sahara opened her muzzle to speak, but a messenger's cry from below drew their attention away. Blister whipped around as a skinny little dragonet came powering his way up to them.

"Your Majesty," he panted, flaring to a stop, "a message!"

Blister growled. "This better be important."

Taking a deep breath, the messenger said, "A patrol along the border just returned with news. They've confronted a flight of the dragonets' troops out by the eastern outposts."

"Already?" Sahara sounded more resigned than surprised. "They're giving us no time to prepare."

"Well they're on our turf now," spat Blister. "How many did the patrol kill?"

The messenger blinked. "The lieutenant says the dragonets' forces didn't attack them. They wished to pass a message to us." The little Sandwing gulped. "To you, my queen."

The silence was punctuated only by the steady thrum of wingbeats.

"A message?" Typical. Blister would never have wasted such an opportunity on a measly message. "What do they want?"

"Their leader, Sunny, wants to meet with you. At dawn, tomorrow morning, by the far eastern outpost."

Both Sahara and the messenger winced as Blister erupted into a raucous laughter.

"The mongrel wants to meet with me? She thinks she has the right to speak with the Queen of Poison?"

"There's more," the messenger interrupted. "She wants to discuss a possible armistice. She says she doesn't want to cause any more bloodshed than necessary, and wants to bring a peaceful end to the conflict. She'll only bring herself and a few guards, and expects you to do the same."

Blister snorted. "An armistice. What a load of camel spit."

"You don't believe it?" said Sahara.

"It can easily be a trap. I'll not be so naïve as to let them lure me out where I'm vulnerable," said Blister, snapping her tail.

"I beg your pardon, my queen," growled Sahara, "but weren't you just saying you wanted to fight the dragonets out by our eastern border? Now the leader of the dragonets has called for a meeting by the border, and you refuse to go?"

Blister whipped around. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means that you shouldn't boast about your barb unless you're willing to use it," said Sahara, reciting an old Sandwing proverb. "This dragonet has volunteered to come into our kingdom to parley with us. If we refuse to meet with her, what will that say to all the Sandwings who fight for you?"

Again Blister found herself in a glaring contest with Sahara, who looked completely at ease under her withering gaze. The messenger looked away nervously, as if now regretting his decision to speak to Blister.

 _This all sounds like a waste of time,_ thought Blister. _But my troops will think me a coward if I don't go. They'll latch on to any excuse to resist my rule._ Her subjects tried to keep their resentment hidden, but Blister could see that their loyalty to her was eroding fast. Losing the rainforest had done her no favors, and as her allies trickled away, so did her soldiers' morale.

"Anything else, messenger?"

"Uh, nothing more, Your Majesty. M-may I—"

"Yes, scram. Don't you have other messages to carry? Off with you."

With a poorly suppressed shudder the dragonet was off, winging away quickly. Blister felt Sahara's gaze on the back of her neck as the two of them descended back down to the palace grounds.

"My queen? What will you do?"

Blister thumped down with a puff of sand, sweeping her wings regally to her flanks. She gazed up at the imposing walls of the stronghold, and flicked her tongue.

"I suppose a little talk couldn't hurt."

And if that mongrel were to receive a barb in the throat during the talk…well, Blister wouldn't complain.

* * *

Dawn of the next day saw Blister taking off from the palace with a full flight of Sandwings in tow. Leaving Sahara in charge of keeping the peace, she flew at the head of the formation at a brisk pace, her mind awhirl with plans and calculations.

A warm current carried them on their way, and before long the eastern outpost appeared on the horizon, a rocky outcropping set against the rolling dunes. Along the hazy horizon stood the Claws of the Clouds, their foothills stretching down to the desert in the near distance. The sun was just about to peak over the mountains, its glow casting a strange aura on the pale landscape beneath.

At her command the flight descended and hid behind a large dune nearby, ready to act at her given signal. Taking only three Sandwings with her, she proceeded to the outcropping, where a lone pair of guards bowed low to her.

"Arise," said Blister. "Is the dragonet here yet?"

They nodded and led her around to the eastern side of the outcropping, where a flat slab of sandstone lay imbedded in the sand, skewed and cracked like the ruins of some long forgotten palace. At the top of the rock stood four Sandwings. A small, golden Sandwing separated from the group and called a greeting as she approached.

"Fair winds, Queen Blister," said Sunny, her green eyes bright and intense. Blister smothered a grimace. The last time she'd seen this Sandwing was when she ransomed Scarlet for Sunny's friends. That small, crying hatchling was nowhere to be found today—only a calm, collected dragon who, despite her small stature, radiated a sense of strength and maturity.

Blister stopped short two wingspans from Sunny. Her guards clustered protectively around her.

"Mongrel," spat Blister. "Why have you called me here?"

Sunny smiled serenely, ignoring the slur.

"I'm pleased you could make it. I'm glad you honored your promise to bring only a few guards. You may recognize the Sandwings I've brought with me."

Blister glanced up as the three other Sandwings moved protectively around Sunny. Two of them she recognized, the third she wished she hadn't.

"Smolder." A growl escaped unbidden from Blister's throat. "Still lurking around with this mutt and her crook of a mother?"

"Call her that one more time and you'll be tasting my venom," said Thorn.

"Patience, Thorn," said Smolder, brushing the Outclaw leader with his wing. Blister heard a gentle tone in his voice that she hadn't heard in a while. "That's just my sister's way of saying hello."

Blister glared at Sunny. "You've brought your mother and my brother? Have you come to talk peace or mock me?"

"The former," said the final Sandwing, "unless you decide to make a fool of yourself."

Blister frowned at the Sandwing, before realizing that his tail barb was missing.

"You! Chibi, isn't it? What are you doing here?"

"Asking for my barb back." The scrappy little Sandwing cracked a smirk. "And it's Qibli, O Queen of Poison."

Blister snorted. "So you've brought your whole happy family. What a joyous reunion." She swept her wings out, prompting a low growl from Thorn. "State your business quickly. I'm losing my patience for your theatrics."

Sunny looked left and right, eyeing her companions. Without a word the three of them settled themselves and folded their wings politely, though Thorn still looked angry.

"All three of my companions here with me today have suffered at your claws," said Sunny quietly. "My mother, and her Outclaws, driven out and targeted by your troops. Qibli, a dear friend of mine, who will forever be crippled thanks to you. And Smolder, your own brother, who feels more comfortable in our company than in his sister's."

Sunny flicked her tongue, her tail sweeping a slow trail in the sand behind her. "There are many dragons who have lost even more because of your actions. The Rainwings have lost their forest, and it will take many years for them to rebuild. The Nightwings were driven out and divided, forced to fight their own when Fierceteeth joined your ranks. So have the Skywings, who must still fight Scarlet to this day because you protected a tyrant from the justice she deserved. The Icewings are in shambles, their leadership gone, thanks to your machinations.

"And the Sandwings—our poor fellow tribe members—they've suffered the most. Through the War of the Sandwing Sucession all the way until now, our tribe has been torn. Brothers fighting brothers, families ripped apart, dragonets orphaned from birth. Now I won't pretend that it was your fault alone, because your sisters were as much responsible. But you had a chance to make things right after you finally won that wretched war, didn't you? At that peace meeting so many months ago you took control of this tribe. You could have been a great queen, if you'd wanted to. You had the power to make things right, to prove to the tribe that you were the best sister to ascend the throne."

Sunny paused, jaws slightly ajar, as the sun finally broke free from the mountains and unleashed a dazzling display. Her golden scales shimmered in a brilliant halo, and as the little Sandwing spread her wings wide, Blister felt herself taking a step back. Where once stood a measly runt of a dragonet, there was now a proud, regal dragon, standing in defiant protest of Blister's rule.

"But you became a tyrant, Blister, and a barbaric conqueror. Seizing your mother's throne wasn't enough—you wanted everything, all of Pyrrhia, the entirety of dragonkind bowing before you. You proved to be unscrupulous, cruel, willing to do anything no matter how terrible to get what you wanted. We've fought long and hard, Blister. You and your ambitions of power versus me and my friends."

Sunny folded her wings again. She climbed to all fours and stepped forward.

"So here we stand, one year later, in the very desert where all of this began. Many dragons have died on both sides to bring us to this point, and now at long last it's coming to a close. Your subjects despise you. Your allies have vanished. The dragons of Pyrrhia stand united against your tyranny. Open your eyes, Blister. This war is lost for you."

Wind whistled in the silence, bearing along grains of sand that swept against Blister's scales. The sting of the gritty sand was nothing compared to the searing heat in her chest.

 _This war is lost for you._

It was, and she knew it deep down. Knew it as clearly as the sand beneath her claws and the wind against her wings.

And, like every time before, Blister shut her eyes to the truth.

"Well done," she said forcefully. "You've learned your history. And some speechcraft, it seems." She lifted her eyes to the other Sandwings around Sunny. Qibli looked amused, Thorn disdainful, and Smolder almost sorry for her, a patronizing expression of pity in his eyes.

 _I don't need your moons-begotten pity._ She wished she'd killed Smolder long ago. Yet another regret to add to her already extensive list.

"I don't want this to end with more bloodshed than necessary," said Sunny. "Blister, if you relinquish the throne now, we can end this war without any more lives lost. We will take you into custody and hold you prisoner. The Sandwings will convene to decide who the next queen will be—with _out_ you threatening them into submission—and that queen will determine your fate. The war will end, the Sandwing Kingdom will be whole again, and all of Pyrrhia can finally begin recovering from the ravages of war. Do this, and we will not invade your stronghold. We will let those who served you live, so long as they swear loyalty to the new queen of the Sandwings. Do those terms sound acceptable?"

For the second time in as many days Blister erupted into laughter. She looked at her guards, an incredulous look on her face. They squirmed at their queen's odd behavior.

"Well?" said Sunny, still waiting for a reply.

Blister calmed herself enough to say, "I was under the impression that we were here to discuss a peace treaty, not terms of surrender."

Sunny cocked her head. Her eyes were as hard as emeralds.

"It seems, in this case, that they're one and the same," she said quietly.

Blister sniffed. "And you expect me to simply accept these terms? To hand over my life to you wretched lot, after all I've done to gain this throne? Truly, you're more naïve than I believed."

Blister grinned, showing rows of razor sharp teeth. "And that is going to cost you and your companions your lives."

Breathing deep, Blister was about to howl the signal for attack when Sunny's voice cut her off.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Eh?" Caught off guard, Blister lowered her head quizzically at Sunny.

Sunny twirled the tip of her tail. Shapes began to meld out of the sand. Scales shifted from tan to green, blue, red, and yellow as Rainwings shed their camouflage, uncovering the Seawings and Skywings they'd been hiding beneath their wings. Mudwings, burrowed like Sandwings, lifted themselves from the sand like giant scorpions. Even a few Nightwings appeared among the sudden army of troops that sprang up around Sunny. Blister did a panicked headcount. At least four flights of troops, if not more; they were horribly outnumbered.

As Blister and her dragons cowered close in fright, Sunny reared up on her hind legs, her voice brimming with satisfaction.

"Oh, Blister. Do you think I'm still the young, cheery-eyed dragonet that you met in the Summer Palace? You think I've learned nothing from this war you've put us through? You think I would meet with the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia with nothing but a few friends for protection?"

Sunny exhaled a jet of flame into the sky, and the voices of a hundred dragons roared their agreement. Blister's guards shifted uneasily, throwing fearful glances her direction.

Sunny's dragons finally fell silent, and the little Sandwing left Blister with a final parting word.

"You should know better than to mess with destiny. Go home now, Blister, go back to your stronghold. Tomorrow, our army will take wing and advance into the Sand Kingdom. You may either surrender peacefully, and spare the lives of countless dragons, or fight to the end for a throne that will never be yours.

"What will you be remembered for, Blister?" whispered Sunny. "What will be your destiny?"

* * *

 _What will be your destiny?_

Sunny's words echoed in Blister's ears as she and her dragons flew on their return course to the stronghold. They turned and twisted within her mind, reaching deep into her core and seizing her fear by its root. She could not believe that pint-sized dragonet had managed to shake her confidence so badly.

When had Sunny gotten so strong, so brave? When had the little runt turned into such a fearless diplomat and leader?

"My queen?"

Pulled from her thoughts, Blister shook her head. "What?" she snapped.

"We're approaching the stronghold," said a guard, who was peering forward intently. "Your Majesty…the signal fires have been lit."

"What?" Startled, Blister followed the guard's gaze to the walls of the stronghold. Fires burned in braziers all along the sandstone structure—fires that weren't supposed to be lit unless the stronghold was under attack.

"Camel spit and fox dung," cursed Blister. "Faster! The stronghold is in trouble."

Her command was passed down the line, and the entire flight was soon speeding forward. Soon they were at the stronghold, and Blister heard dragons snarling and fighting. Her dragons, fighting…

 _Wait,_ thought Blister as they swooped above the chaos below. _I only see Sandwings._

She dove and flared to a stop in the middle of the courtyard, next to the obelisk. She threw her head back and howled for order, her guards following suit. Soon all fighting had stopped, the bruised and bloodied Sandwings turning to her and bowing in quick deference to their queen.

"What in the blazing red sun is happening here?!" roared Blister, her tail snapping dangerously from side to side.

A spot of red stumbled out from the crowd of brown and tan. Blister turned to see Scarlet limp toward her. The former Skywing queen had blood dripping down one leg, but other than that seemed intact. A smirk contorted her already mangled face.

"A few of your dragons had the bright idea to attempt a coup," she said. Scarlet settled herself in front of Blister, and seemed to enjoy watching the shocked anger spread across Blister's face. "I helped put a stop to it."

"Traitors? In my ranks?"

"It would seem. Perhaps a 'thank you' is in order?" Scarlet gave Blister a smug look and was met with a glare.

"Who started it?" shouted Blister, addressing everyone. "Who is responsible for this?"

A commotion toward the back soon resolved into a pair of guards roughly dragging a Sandwing forward. They threw the dragon in front of Blister, and she hissed.

"General Sahara?"

The general rolled her eyes up at her. Her flank was scored with numerous gashes, and one eye was swollen shut. She was panting heavily, her jaws slick with blood.

"My queen." A cough racked her body, and Blister noticed an open wound, black with venom, along one leg. Sahara wasn't going to make it without medical help.

Not that Blister was going to give her any.

"So. Questioning my authority wasn't enough for you, your traitorous wyrm?" Blister snaked her way to Sahara's side, where the general tried to rise to her claws, but was promptly slammed to the ground by the guards on either side of her.

"I've only ever…fought for the Sandwings," she wheezed.

"And now you've tried to usurp _my_ throne? You worthless piece of rat gut!" Snarling, Blister clawed Sahara across the face. The Sandwing took the blow without a sound, even as fresh blood began to seep into her eyes.

"Before I kill you," growled Blister, bringing herself level with Sahara, "you will tell me why you've done this. Why you tried to backstab the rightful queen of the Sandwings."

Sahara barked out a harsh laugh. "Rightful? You dare sully that word? I served you faithfully for two decades, Blister. I thought you were the queen the Sandwings needed…but you've turned into tyrant far worse than your mother."

"The dragons loyal to Her Majesty would beg to differ," said Scarlet, looking remarkably calm as she sauntered up beside Blister.

"Fools, all of you!" wailed Sahara, coughing up blood. "You still stand with the dragon who will throw you into pointless battle? You'd fight for the queen who sacrifices her subjects to keep her measly throne?"

Blister lifted her eyes to the crowd. Few of the dragons met her stern gaze, hanging their heads and averting their eyes. Too cowardly by themselves to outright rebel, they nevertheless held no love for their queen. Sahara's influence had been what galvanized the soldiers into revolt.

Did the Sandwings follow Queen Blister? Or General Sahara?

"She only has power because we've let her rule over us," Sahara gasped. "She ruined our tribe because none of us were brave enough to oppose her. Fellow soldiers…I implore you…end this tyrant's reign. Now!"

"Silence." Blister laid her barb along Sahara's throat, right where the jugular pulsed strong. "It's clear you've sided with those cursed dragonets."

"Perhaps they had the right of it all along," she murmured. "They saw the truth that we were blind to."

"Enough. You and all those who mutinied will die tonight, and you will be the first to go." She pressed her barb into Sahara's neck until it sank in. "Give my mother my regards."

As Sahara strangled breathing finally quieted, Blister said to Scarlet, "Gather all those who joined Sahara's little coup. I will kill every last traitor with my own two claws."

Scarlet flicked her tongue. "You're starting to sound like Burn."

"Don't make me kill you, too," growled Blister.

"Just an observation. Were I in your position, I'd do the same exact thing." The Skywing turned to go, but stopped short, craning her neck around.

"You don't happen to have a replacement for Sahara, do you?"

"I can lead perfectly fine. Unless you think you can do better?"

"It's your tribe. I won't interfere." Scarlet's face contorted, as if she'd just swallowed a durian. "This should make for a thrilling battle tomorrow."

The traitors were lined up before her, forced to their bellies. As the grisly process began, the Queen of Poison gazed up at the black obelisk one last time. She smiled.

Tomorrow she was going to die. And she was taking as many dragons with her as possible.

* * *

"You sure you want to do this?"

As Blister and her dragons disappeared over the western horizon, Sunny turned to Clay, who had materialized by her side along with the rest of her friends. They'd refused to let her go on this mission alone, and Sunny had let them come as long as they stayed hidden with the rest of the backup forces. She was glad their claws hadn't been needed.

"I don't want to attack my tribe any more than you do," she said, sighing. "But if we must do it to oust Blister, then I'll do it. We've gone through too much, lost too much at this point."

"Are you OK with coming tomorrow?" Tsunami nudged her with her wing. "If you don't want to watch us fight your tribe…"

"No. I'll come. I need to be there, with all of you. We're in this together."

She faced her friends, and all the other dragons that had come with them, vowing to protect her with their lives. She saw in them their utmost loyalty to their cause, the hope glowing in their eyes. Hope for a better future. Hope for a free future, without war and tyranny.

"You think Blister will surrender?" said Clay. "She can't possibly think she'll win."

"When has that every stopped her?" said Glory.

"Never," said Starflight. "It seems she's going to fight this war until the end."

Of that Sunny had no doubt. Her friends, her family, and all those who pledged to their cause—they would all put their lives on the line, in one last effort to free Pyrrhia from Blister's claws.

Sunny closed her eyes, sudden sorrow grasping at her heart. Not all would make it tomorrow. Not all would see that dream that she and her friends had fought so long to make a reality.

She hoped that the cost would be worth it.

One way or another, it was all going to end tomorrow.

* * *

 **A/N:** Dun dun duuuuuuuuuun. It's going down, boys and girls. Next time, for sure, will be the final battle. It may or may not be the final chapter - I'll probably have to wrap some things up and settle a few final plot points before the real end. And then there might be a little something extra at the end...I don't know, it isn't settled yet. We'll have to see when the time comes. :)

Man, it's wild seeing this story come so far. And I'm positive I wouldn't have gotten this far without the warm support of you guys and your reviews. So thank you again for sticking with me this long guys, and for believing in this crazy, cookey story. :D

Our favorite dragonets have lived under a war-torn sky for so long. Will they finally find the peace they've been seeking? There's only way to find out...

~SpicyDog99


	29. Silence

Silence

It was the silence that Sunny remembered the most.

Rising early the next morning, as the sun peeked over the mountains, she climbed to the top of a hill to gaze down on the army camped below. Soldiers stirred, but the usual sounds of an army were muted, conversations whispered and hushed. A nervous tension hung about the camp as the soldiers readied their gear, assembled into formation, and waited for the order to take off.

A light breeze blew against her scales. She closed her eyes, breathing deep of the crisp mountain air. Her heart fluttered uncertainly against her ribs as potential disasters played out in her mind. Blister, sweeping in with an army out of nowhere. The Sandwings, rejecting Sunny's invading force and fighting to their utter destruction. A dark future, constantly plagued by war, queens clashing with queens as if nothing had been learned, nothing had been gained, from the wars of bygone eras.

 _Is this our fate? Dragonkind's fate?_ The hope that normally buoyed her sank in the shadow of despair. _To fight, over and over, and never know peace? Will the bloodshed ever end?_

She opened her eyes, gazing out over the lonely, desolate dunes to the west. Would _they_ be able to end the bloodshed?

"Morning," came a gruff voice. Sunny turned to see a hulking Mudwing tromp up next to her. She smiled.

"Good morning, Heron. How have you been?"

Heron grunted. "Eh. The troops are fine. Happy that this war is finally coming to a close. I think it's about time we put all this nasty business behind us and enjoy a few years of peace."

"Agreed," said Sunny. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Hm?"

"How have _you_ been? Things have moved along since we first met you in the rainforest." Sunny looked away. "If you don't mind me saying, you seem a lot better than…before."

Heron made a low noise in her throat, somewhere between a hum and a sigh.

"I guess. Finally got to bash a few skulls in. Avenge my brother's death. It wasn't, well…"

"What?"

Heron paused, looking uncomfortable as she crouched next to Sunny. "I thought killing Blister's goons would make Caiman's death better. It didn't. I don't think any amount of killing will."

"I'm sorry," said Sunny. "This war has taken a lot from all of us."

"It has. Which is why I'm glad it's ending. And—well, I'm glad you're the ones ending it." A ghost of a smile touched the big Mudwing's muzzle. "You know, I had my doubts at first. The five of you seemed so unprepared to take on Blister that I thought this was a lost cause to begin with. But now I'm glad I stuck with you. It will be satisfying to see you finally dethrone that snake."

"Thank you," said Sunny. "You and Moorhen have been just as important in this fight. We would have been doomed without the Mudwings."

Heron shrugged. "Appreciated. I wish Caiman could have seen what you've accomplished."

Their conversation was soon interrupted by Tsunami's call to order. It was time.

"Ready to end this war?" said Heron as they headed to where the others were gathered.

"More than ready. See you on the battlefield, Heron."

"Take care, Sunny. If all goes well, we can all go home soon."

As Heron went to gather her troops, Sunny met up with Clay, Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight. They stood atop a rise before the gathered army, all in various states of nervous anticipation.

"Everyone's ready and accounted for," said Tsunami. "The Seawings are prepped, and the other queens have their troops ready."

"Good," said Sunny. "Everyone needs to be in top shape today. Clay, how's the gear?"

"Mended and refitted. All the weapons were checked last night, they should be good." He nodded in a self-satisfied way. "And I made sure we all had a good breakfast. Can't fight on an empty stomach."

Sunny chuckled. "That's for sure. Alright, everyone's ready for battle. Glory, what have your scouts seen?"

Glory's scales turned a slight yellow. "Nothing unexpected. They say Blister's digging in, and her troops are getting ready for a final stand. Something happened at the stronghold yesterday that's really shaken the Sandwings. They look even more scared than usual."

"They probably know how this is going to end," said Sunny. "Either way, their loss is our gain. Starflight, what do you think? How should we approach this?"

Starflight cocked his head, the ends of his blindfold swaying with the movement. "Well, we have the numbers advantage. Our troops are in better spirits than Blister's. I say we just go for it."

"Go for it?"

"A full attack, all at once. Blister has nowhere left to run—unless she wants to try flying across the ocean. If we encircle the stronghold, cut off all their routes of escape, we can easily defeat Blister."

"And end this war. For good." Inhaling deeply, Sunny felt a steady energy thrum from her chest to the tips of her wings as she left the group huddle and faced the army standing ready.

"Warriors," she began, "I stand before you this morning to deliver a simple message. Behind me, within the dunes of the Sand Kingdom, lies Blister's Stronghold. Though she has been weakened significantly, she is still a formidable foe. She will fight to the bitter end, as will her loyal followers. We gave her one last chance at peace, and she threw it away.

"Every one of you standing before me today is here because you believe in a better future for Pyrrhia. A future that isn't ruled by petty tyrants, and steeped in constant war and conflict. You've sacrificed much to get to this point—you've fought, you've bled, you've lost kin and fellow comrades. And now that the final battle is upon us, we, the Dragons of Destiny, call on you to remember what we've fought so hard for. Peace. Prosperity. Freedom. A chance for our dragonets to see a brighter future, where dragons no longer fight and hate, but learn to respect each other. We have our differences, but we are all dragons. And to me, that's all that matters."

She turned to face the dunes, and felt the warm brush of desert air on her muzzle. She spread her wings, and behind her hundreds of dragons followed suit.

"Dragons of Pyrrhia…one last hurdle remains before us. I've been honored to have you by our side, and I am honored to spread wing with you one last time to fly into battle. To the sky, warriors! It's time to end this war."

In the end, it was the silence that Sunny remembered the most. As the dragons lifted off and sped west to battle, their wingbeats fading into the distance, she closed her eyes and listened to the silence. To the dragons that weren't there, whose voices would never be heard again. Caiman, whose sacrifice had saved dozens of his tribe member's lives. Six-Claws and Stonemover, loyal and loving both. And the hundreds of dragons—Sandwing and Skywing, Rainwing and Nightwing, Icewing and Mudwing and Seawing—who had fallen on both sides of the war.

She listened to that silence, the same silence that had accompanied her to sleep every night since the war's beginning. It was that silence that asked if what she'd done, what she and Blister had done, could ever be repaid to those that had suffered.

The answer, truly, was no. Like Heron said, nothing could ever bring back those who were lost, or sooth those who'd have to move on without their loved ones.

But perhaps, when the sky was peaceful once more, she could carry on their names and voices to generations beyond.

Sunny straightened as an idea sprouted in her mind. It would take time and a lot of effort to implement. But then again, nothing she had ever done had been easy, and it was the least she could do for those that had given her their all.

She spread her wings and followed the army into battle.

* * *

Like Tsunami's namesake, the army descended in a wave upon the desert. The sky darkened with a thousand pairs of wings as the air shook with their well-timed beats. They swept upon the dusty dunes, enveloping Blister's outposts, swiftly decimating what little opposition remained to stand in their way.

"Forward!" Tsunami cried as they took to the skies again. "To the stronghold!"

The hot desert sun soon grew in intensity, beating down on their backs as they flew. As Blister's Stronghold grew in the distance, so to did the desert's heat, searing its touch into the scales of every dragon. It was as if the desert itself was fighting back against this invading force.

 _Fast and quick,_ she thought, already panting from the heat. _Can't let us get bogged down in the dunes._

As they approached the streaked and dirty walls of the stronghold, a swarm of Sandwings swirled up from below. Like snakes they slithered from the walls, pouring from the stronghold doors and windows, gathering in the sky like a poised viper. At their head Tsunami spotted a speck of red, and a growl built in her chest.

"Scarlet!" The growl built into a snarl. "We have unfinished business."

The speck materialized into the former Skywing queen, her disfigured face contorted in a gruesome sneer. Tsunami heard a flutter of wings, and out of the corner of her eye saw Ruby pull up some distance away.

"Have you finally grown some courage, mother?" came Ruby's acid greeting. "Or has Blister hidden herself in her stronghold and left you for dead?"

Scarlet remained silent as she hovered in front of the ranks of Sandwings. Tsunami was genuinely surprised to see her actually standing her ground.

 _This war has changed everyone,_ she thought.

Then Scarlet spoke.

"Isn't this a thrilling reunion?" she said without an ounce of amusement in her voice.

Tsunami cocked her head. Well, almost everyone.

"I'm surprised you haven't run off, mother," Ruby continued. "You seem to have made a habit of it. What changed?"

"What changed?" The former queen cackled. "You tell me, Ruby. My kingdom, stolen by a heartless daughter. My dragons, enraptured by a false queen. Hunted and humiliated by mere dragonets, really Ruby, must you ask?"

"Is that what you tell yourself? That everything you had was unjustly taken from you?" Ruby's claws raked the air, as if she could claw her mother from here. "That you were the victim and everyone else was bullying you?"

"You started this, Ruby. You and those cursed dragonets. Don't pretend you didn't."

"Maybe we did." Tsunami turned to see Peril swoop forward, her blue eyes pale and confident. She stared down the opposing force, and as one they all shied away, cringing and whispering among themselves.

 _They don't know she's lost her firescales._ Tsunami smiled at the unexpected advantage.

"But if we took everything from you," continued Peril, "it was because you took everything from everyone else. Their freedom, their dignity, their lives. You tossed dragons into your arena and watched as they killed each other for your entertainment. You turned an innocent dragonet into a killing machine so you would always keep your throne. It was you who was the bully, Scarlet, whether you admit it or not."

Peril banked around and pulled up to Ruby's side. She gave Peril a nod, and Peril returned it.

"Well then," said Scarlet. "You have your truth and I have mine. And that's the way it's going to be."

The old queen gave a final crooked grin.

"I have nothing left to lose. And besides, I'd rather die by the claw than rot in some corner of this wretched continent. So I suppose this is it. It's been nice knowing you all, but truly, I am done with this world.

"Sandwings, attack!"

The two armies rushed forward, howling cries of battle.

They clashed, for the final time.

* * *

Hours passed beneath the burning sun. Claw clashed against scale, fire burned against hide, dragons fought and bled and died. As the battle continued it descended from the sky to the dunes, and the sand was soon painted with the blood of the wounded and fallen.

Up above Sunny circled, taking it all in. Taking in the bloodshed. Taking in the pain.

She hated it, the pain and grief of war. But she wasn't going to sit back and let others suffer and sacrifice on her behalf. So she followed them to the battlefield, and oversaw the fighting, coordinating with Tsunami and the others as necessary. Clay and Starflight were helping the healers, while Glory was coordinating the Rainwings and Nightwings, who fought at the edge of the battle, hounding the Sandwings and filling gaps in the defense.

She saw her mother, Thorn, along with Qibli and Smolder. The Outclaws swept from around, attacking the rear, sowing chaos and confusion in the Blister's ranks. She saw Moorhen, with Heron by her side, forging a path through the center, forcing the Sandwings back. Above, Ruby and the Skywings circled like a flock of sharp-eyed falcons, swooping down to rake the Sandwings, zooming back up out of their reach before they could retaliate. And she saw Tsunami, there at the forefront, fighting with the Seawings as they swiftly pushed Blister's forces back up against the sealed gates of the stronghold.

They were like a well-oiled machine, a single organism fighting with one mind and one purpose. Sunny found it breathtaking. To see these different dragon tribes, fighting as one, unified despite all their differences…

It was more than just peace she strived for now, more than just an absence of war. As Sunny gazed out over the dragons, over past enemies now turned comrades, she knew that this was what she wanted dragonkind to be. One race. Whole. Fighting together for a common vision.

Then she saw the Sandwings, alone and suffering, as they fell one by one. Her hopes fell as she watched her tribe make their desperate last stand.

How could they be whole when some still fought for tyrants?

A howl went up from the center of the fighting. Amid the throng of thrashing bodies was Scarlet, collapsed before the stronghold gates, bloody from head to tail. Dragons around stopped and watched as she lay on her side, flanks heaving and coughing up blood, feebly trying to retreat from Ruby and Peril as they pressed in on her.

"Scarlet of the Skywings," said Ruby, her voice echoing to all present, "we have beaten you here on the steps of Blister's Stronghold. You have nowhere left to run or hide, and the Skywings demand your death. Do you have anything left to say?"

While Sunny landed silently and made her way through the spectators, Scarlet coughed and gazed up with a scowl on her muzzle.

"What…is there left to say?" She shifted, then slipped, falling heavily on her side. "We've both killed…so many. Like the arena, all over again."

Her eyes got far away. "Those…those were the days. Simpler times. Then you, and those hatchlings…bah!"

Scarlet lay her head down, her breath rattling as she gasped for breath. More dragons parted as Tsunami made her way to where Ruby and Peril stood. Sunny joined her.

"General Tsunami," said Ruby. "I know you and your friends have had a history with Scarlet. Would you like to do the honors?"

Tsunami hesitated, then looked to Peril, the unspoken question in her eyes. Peril gave a small, barely perceptible nod.

"I will," said Tsunami.

She stood over Scarlet. The former queen looked on, her body slumped in resignation.

"Are you happy now, dragonet?" Her eye rolled in its socket, her voice raspy, barely audible. "Got your revenge finally? Go on. Kill me…like you killed Gill."

Tsunami placed a claw against Scarlet's exposed throat. She winced, whimpered. Tsunami took a long, deep breath.

"I made a promise once, Scarlet," she said, low and calm, "I made a promise that one day you'd receive justice for what you did to us. That day has now come. The reckoning, at last."

A dusty wind whispered among the silence. A thousand dragons watched, enrapt; a thousand pairs of ears heard Tsunami's next words.

"At first I did it for Gill. Gill, mate to my mother Coral, and the father I never knew. The father you forced me to kill after you drove him to madness."

Startled murmuring spread through the crowd. Scarlet blinked in shock, not knowing until now the true extent of what she'd put Tsunami through. Only the Seawings remained silent, their heads bowed in respectful deference to the memory of their late king.

"You will never know, or understand, the pain I suffered Scarlet," Tsunami continued, pain etched into her expression. "Every day, every night. I hated you with every fiber of my being. I wanted to rip you to shreds, make you beg, make you kneel before me as you are now."

She released a pent-up breath, her wings laid gently by her sides. Sunny quietly laid her tail over Tsunami's and offered a small squeeze of support.

"But now, as I stand here with my claws over your throat…" Tsunami bowed her head a moment, closing her eyes as if sorting her thoughts out. "Now, I don't hate you. I don't want to. I saw hatred consume what was left of you Scarlet. Your hatred of us morphed into a hatred of Peril, of your daughter, of your own tribe. You left your tribe to die, all because you couldn't overcome your hatred. I won't let that happen to me. I fight for peace."

Tsunami increased the pressure on Scarlet's throat, and as the Skywing struggled for breath she said, "So wherever you go after this world, remember us, the Dragons of Destiny. Remember what _we_ fought for. And maybe, in some other life, you can leave your hatred behind."

A single slice, and it was done. As Scarlet's life bled out into the sand, Sunny reared up on her hind legs and yelled:

"Is there anyone else who fights for this tyrant? Is there anyone else who fights for Blister?"

She waited, and not a single soul responded. Around her, one by one, the Sandwing soldiers of Blister's army knelt and lowered their heads in surrender. A cheer went up, first among the Sandwings, and then through the rest of the dragons around them.

"Dragons of Destiny! Dragons of Destiny!"

As the crowd roared, Sunny said to Tsunami, "Gather the others. I want everyone together when we confront Blister."

As Tsunami flew off, Sunny turned to the gates of the stronghold, to the bloodstained walls that she'd seen a year ago. The walls that kept others out, and reminded them all of the war, and what it had done to the dragons of Pyrrhia. The idea poked Sunny's mind again, and she could almost see it all, playing out before her.

But first, she had one last tyrant to dethrone.

* * *

They heaved the doors to the throne room open and entered into a well-lit chamber. The walls were smooth and bare, broken only by windows set at even intervals. A long carpet of fine silk lay before them, stretching all the way to a stepped dais at the end of the room. A massive skylight sat against the far wall, letting in a swath of sunlight that fell on a sandy-colored dragon sprawled across plush pillows. Sunny could see a line of black diamonds trailing down the dragon's back.

"Blister!"

Blister raised her head, languidly uncoiling herself and standing before them. Her black, beady eyes drilled into them even from a distance.

"Dragonets. Welcome," she said calmly, as if greeting old friends. "You've breached my defenses and reached the inner sanctums of my stronghold. I assume Scarlet's 'last stand' failed spectacularly?"

"Essentially," said Glory. "What's it to you?"

"Always the acerbic one, are you, Rainwing?" Blister flicked her tongue. "I told her not to bother, but she refused to listen. Judging by your relatively clean appearances, you let those lackeys of yours handle my soldiers, yes?"

"We didn't have to," said Tsunami. "We offered them surrender, and they gladly took it."

"Only after routing them soundly, I'm sure." Blister spat. "Pssh. Pathetic bunch. So much for faithfully serving their queen."

"You aren't their queen," said Starflight. "The Sandwings won't fight for a tyrant like you."

"Oh? Have they chosen someone else already?"

"Not yet," said Sunny, stepping forward. "But once this is over, we will let them choose who will rule them, as it should have been all along."

"And whoever they choose, it definitely won't be you," said Clay, thumping the floor with his tail.

Blister stepped down from the dais, her clawsteps muffled by the carpet. The Sandwing bore a peculiar expression—at once amused and sad. Mirth, mixed with sorrow.

"And will it be better, as you say?" Her voice was so quiet that all five of them had to lean forward to hear her better. "How are the Sandwings to know that you've given them a brighter future?"

She paced back and forth, her barbed tail slithering against the carpet with a wispy noise, her wings raised and tucked behind her back.

"You call yourselves the Dragons of Destiny. You follow an old prophecy that has been proven false, one that claims that the five of you, and you alone, can bring peace to Pyrrhia. Have you? All I see around me is war. Bloodshed on a massive scale—swamps filled with bodies, mountain slopes covered in the dead. Weeping widows and orphans, ordinary dragons ripped from their homes and families to fight a war they never wanted.

"I claimed my throne, and you refused to recognize my rule. I asked you to submit, and you resisted instead."

"You threatened to kill us," Tsunami interrupted. "There was no asking involved."

"So we fought," Blister continued, ignoring Tsunami's outburst, "and like rabid animals over a carcass, we tore this continent to pieces in our quests for dominance. Tell me, young dragonets," and here she faced them with a self-satisfied grin upon her snout, "what quest for peace involves invading a tribe's kingdom by force?"

"Your delusional." The tassels of Starflight's blindfold quivered ever so slightly as he raised his head. "We're freeing the Sandwings, not invading them. We're fighting your greed, not taking Pyrrhia for our own."

"Is that how you see it? You are the great heroes fighting the terrible evil queen? I'm no fool. I've lived long enough to know how things work. And it's not that simple."

She swept to a standstill, gracefully sitting down and wrapping her tail around her legs. Blister inspected her barb, tracing a talon along its gleaming, black edge.

"The Icewings are in turmoil right now. Their queen is dead, all those in power have fled or vanished. Their kingdom is now caught in its own civil war, and more dragons die with every passing day.

"The Skywings have lost so many of their own. They face an uncertain future with a young, inexperienced queen who employs the services of a monster executioner."

"Peril is _not_ a mon—"

"The Nightwings," said Blister, smothering Clay's protests, "oh, how they have suffered. First they lose their home, and then they are taken over by a _Rain_ wing upstart, who abandons them at the first sign of trouble."

Glory turned scarlet. "Would you like to be acquainted with my venom? I can give you a face to match Scarlet's."

"As if the threat of violence could bother me when you've already destroyed everything I cared about." Blister appraised Glory with thinly veiled contempt. "And you accuse me of cruelty."

Blister went on. "But let's not forget the tribe that suffered the most: the Sandwings. _Your_ Sandwings, Sunny, for whether you accept it or not their fate is tied to the consequences of your actions. All they wanted after twenty years of war was some peace. Instead they've been forced to fight a war that has decimated their numbers. Do you know how many Sandwings there are left, Sunny? Do you know how many of your own tribe you have slaughtered?"

Sunny felt their eyes on her, heard the silence of their voices. She didn't know the exact number, and odds were she never woud.

In the end, did it matter? Too many had died already. Too many wouldn't see the world she wished to build, the peace she wished to create. Their blood was on her talons, and no amount of washing would clear it away.

So she wouldn't wash it.

With bloodied talons, she would help rebuild. She, and Blister.

"I didn't destroy the Sandwings, Blister. _We_ did." Sunny prowled forward, and even Blister was forced to her claws. "We are both responsible for what has happened to this tribe."

"Is that what you believe?"

Sunny smirked. "You have your truth and I have mine. So said a certain Skywing." She raised a claw and jabbed it at Blister. "But you and I know…we know that there is only one truth. We just have different ways of seeing it. This war is ours, and only we can heal what we've harmed. I can see that clear as day. Whether or not you do is your choice entirely.

"Blister, you once refused my offer of peace. Well, here I am in your throne room, and I'm going to offer it to you again."

Tsunami sputtered. "Wait, wait, Sunny? You can't be serious?"

"I thought we were here to stop Blister, not give her a ticket to freedom," said Glory.

"Quiet, I've got this." Turning back to Blister, Sunny said, "We will let you live on one condition—that you help us rebuild the Sand Kingdom, and the rest of Pyrrhia. Undo what this war has destroyed, and you will see that we've truly believed in peace all along, and that our dream will benefit dragonkind far more than your ambitions.

"It's your choice, Blister. Atone for what you've done…or die, and take your tyranny away forever."

Blister looked away, silent and still. For an eternity Sunny heard nothing but her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears. Under the bright light streaming in from the skylight the pale scales lining Blister's thin frame were dull and coarse, her eyes lifeless. Dry and withered, she was like the shed skin of a viper, its owner—the old, conniving Blister—long gone.

"All you see is a tyrant." Her words after such a long silence seemed abnormally loud. "Just another snake trying to steal another throne. How easy it is to label me evil, and move on from it, as if I've no other purpose but to stand in the way of the great heroes."

She refused to meet their eyes, yet all could hear the aching bitterness broiling deep in her voice.

"I could never be like any of you, bright and optimistic, ready to go out and shape the world. How could I? All I knew from the second I crawled out of my egg is that everyone hated me. My sisters, they never trusted me. Burn threatened to kill me on multiple occasions, and Blaze was constantly terrified of me. Even Smolder and my other brothers couldn't stand my presence. But my mother…if you knew the things she said and did to me…"

She whipped around, and they all tensed. Tsunami growled, but Blister went on, caught within her own tale.

"It's true that I wanted the Sandwing throne ever since I was young. It's true that I learned to be cunning and manipulative, for I didn't have Burn's brute strength or Blaze's natural charisma to aid me. But I wanted that throne for more than just personal gain. I wanted to rob Oasis of the one thing that she hung over me, every day and every night. The one thing she claimed I would _never_ get, no matter what I did or how hard I fought."

Blister turned her back to them, facing the dais.

"It was the only way I could surmount her. The only way I could spit in her face and say, 'Look at me now. Look at the daughter you tried to destroy.' After all I went through to win this throne, keeping it from the likes of you five seemed easy."

She began laughing, her voice dead of emotion. With slow, deliberate steps she turned back to them and wrapped her tail around herself.

"But you became my downfall in the end. A viper is only as deadly as its bite, and it seems mine was not enough to stop you. Had I known the trouble you would cause me down the road I would've had Morrowseer kill you all in an instant. But all of that is just sand blown away in the wind, isn't it?"

She raised her barb up, and laid a claw over it.

"So when you give me a choice to either die, or seek atonement—to leave this world, or live to see this peace you've dreamed up—it's not a choice, really. My mother is in another place right now, laughing at my misfortune. If there is no way for me to silence her…then I might as well go to her now."

Too late, Sunny realized what was going to happen.

"No, wait—"

Before anyone could stop her, Blister took the tip of her barb and rammed it into the soft underside of her throat. The wickedly sharp point pierced scale and flesh with sickening ease, and Blister cried out in pain, stumbling to one side as black venom began spreading swiftly from the wound.

"What is she doing?" said Starflight.

"She stabbed herself! With her own barb!" Clay leapt forward, but stopped short. "What do…what do we do?"

Before Sunny could respond, Blister—coughing, with blood dripping from her neck—lifted her head and grinned at them.

"Oh, the dragonets are coming…"

By now the five of them had gathered around Blister, who'd slumped over onto her side. Sunny, snapping out of her shock, wrapped her claws around Blister's barb, trying to yank it out, but the dying Sandwing held on with a vice-like grip as more and more venom poured into her neck.

"They're coming to save the day…"

"She's injecting herself with all her venom," cried Sunny. "Help me, someone!"

"They're coming to fight…for they know what's right…"

"Sunny." Sunny barely felt Glory's claw on her shoulder, ignored the sorrow in her voice. "Sunny, stop. There's nothing we can do."

"…the dragonets…"

Panting, horrified at what she was seeing, Sunny stared into Blister's eyes, green into inky black. Those eyes saw nothing anymore, gazing far off into the distance as one final breath escaped between Blister's parted jaws.

"…hooray…"


	30. Epilogue

Epilogue

Three years later, Sunny still remembered that moment.

Standing outside the gates of the stronghold, as she did every morning to greet the dawn, she often found her thoughts wandering to that day. Reminiscing over the events that unfolded, over each painstaking detail, she wondered whether there was a way she could have stopped Blister from taking her own life.

She wondered, even if there was, whether she should have stopped her.

 _She wanted to die on her terms, not ours. A petty request, but who was I to deny her?_

Sunny lowered her head, closing her eyes as the sun peaked over the dunes and washed her face in warmth. They'd carried Blister's body out, and the soldiers had parted in silence as they bore her out the stronghold gates and laid her next to Scarlet. Two queens, two tyrants, both of whom had fallen that day—one with pain on her face, the other maniacal glee.

Perhaps, in a twist of fate, the last Sandwing sister had finally found an ounce of happiness in the throes of death.

"My queen?"

Snapping out of the past, Sunny opened her eyes to see a familiar Outclaw approaching her.

"Qibli." She smiled, his presence always managing to warm her mood. "What brings you out this early?"

He settled next to her, and out of instinct twined his tail with hers.

"What's wrong with watching the sunrise with my favorite dragon?"

"Oh stop it, you." She batted him half-heartedly with her wing, and he returned the favor. "You know I don't need you watching over me all the time."

He shrugged. "Couldn't hurt."

"You're as bad as Deathbringer."

He laughed. "Oh, he is something else, eh? Now that he's got his own dragonet to look after."

They stayed in companionable silence until the daily bustle of the stronghold called Sunny back. The new queen of the Sandwings led a busy life.

"I still think it's crazy, sometimes," she said to Qibli as they headed through the gates. "Me, the queen of the Sandwings."

"I would've chosen you any day," he replied as servants and guards greeted them respectfully, "and I think the rest of the tribe would agree. They knew you would put them first."

"It's just strange. I set out to bring peace to Pyrrhia, and ended up becoming a queen in the process."

"Well, the same thing happened to two of your friends." He pointed his muzzle at the stronghold walls, and Sunny followed his gaze. "Besides, the Sandwings appreciate what you've done for us. For everyone who didn't make it."

Where once stood the tall, bloodstained walls of the stronghold, there was now only a low foundation, as high as Sunny could stand on her hind legs. After the tribe named her queen, Sunny's first order of business was to tear down those walls. To her, and the Sandwings, they symbolized the war and tyranny, and Sunny didn't want to be a queen who hid behind walls for protection. So they dismantled the walls, brick by brick…but she left the foundation intact. Then, for nearly an entire moon, Sunny stayed outside and etched, with care and precision, as many names as she could into the stonework. Names of the fallen, on both sides. Sandwings, Icewings, Skywings, dragons from any tribe who had died in Blister's War. She had her friends and the other queens assemble as comprehensive of a list as they could, and together they set to work, inscribing names into a wall, ensuring that they would never be forgotten. A memorial, to those who had given everything to make peace a reality.

She left Qibli's side and walked over to a section of the wall. There she saw familiar names: Six-Claws. Stonemover. Caiman. Sahara, who had been executed only a day before the war's end. Even Icicle and Scarlet—for as Sunny knew, even those with evil in their hearts and stories and voices of their own.

And there, near the bottom…

Blister.

Sunny felt a wing wrap around her, and leaned into Qibli's warmth. He said nothing, for no words were needed.

 _So many lives lost to make way for peace. And more._ Every day Sunny worked to improve relations with the other tribes, to promote equality and prevent conflict. It hadn't always been an easy process; old enmities remained, and new ones were sparked by anger, greed, and selfishness. Some days it felt like she'd accomplished nothing, that dragons would continue to fight and war as they always had.

Then she'd look at this wall before her, and she would know. No matter what happened, whether they succeeded or failed, they brought peace. They brought the end of the war to Pyrrhia.

They fulfilled her destiny.

 _But what if we could do more?_ She thought, lifting her head from Qibli's embrace, scanning the lines and lines of names. _What if we could prevent this from happening again, by teaching young dragonets peace and tolerance? What if, by starting young, we can create an entire_ generation _of Dragons of Destiny?_

And, just like that day five years before, an idea struck Sunny's mind.

* * *

"Huh," said Clay as he stepped into the cave. "It's smaller than I remember it being."

"Well, you were a lot smaller back then," said Peril, jabbing him playfully in the side. "Much smaller."

"Oh, come on, Peril," he said, "I'm not _that_ fat. Right, Sunny?"

Sunny, who was sitting on ledge overseeing the cleanup efforts, spared a glance at Clay's rather bulky figure.

"Hmm. I think you look fine." She grinned toothily and gestured at the river flowing through the cavern. "Maybe you could try reenacting that little escapade from four years ago?"

The others burst out laughing while Clay smiled sheepishly. "Eh…I guess not."

"Well, I for one still think it's too dark and claustrophobic," said Glory, raising her snout distastefully at the gloomy surroundings. "Right, Liana?"

"Yeah!" The three-year-old dragonet clung to her mother's back, trying to match the pattern of Glory's scales with her own. "Smelly too."

"We're working on that," said Sunny. "Moorhen has sent a few Mudwings to dig out more entrances and skylights. By the time work is done this cavern should be well lit and ventilated. Nothing like when we were here."

"Thank the moons," said Deathbringer. "We don't want our daughter turning into a Glory clone, now, do we?"

He yelped when she smacked him with her tail, and they all burst out laughing again.

"It's been too long," said Tsunami. "We've all been too busy to see each other. We need to do this more often."

"I agree," said Starflight. "But you had a reason for calling us here, didn't you, Sunny?"

"Yeah," said Clay. "Why'd you bring us back to the cave we grew up in?"

Sunny got to her claws and leapt off the ledge, heading over to where they were gathered.

"About a moon ago I decided to return here first, to check how the cave had fared in the years since we were here. There was a lot of work to do—and there still is—but I think this would be a suitable place."

"Suitable place?" Tsunami cocked her head. "For what?"

Sunny didn't respond. She meandered over to Glory, who was watching Liana prowl around exploring the cavern.

"Glory. You love your daughter, don't you?"

Glory blinked. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do."

"You want Liana to live in a peaceful world, right? To never know war, and be a queen who respects and welcomes dragons of other tribes and backgrounds?"

"Yes…where is this going, Sunny?"

"Tsunami." Sunny turned to the Seawing. "You want your sister Auklet to learn the same thing, don't you? To learn about the world instead of being sheltered forever."

"Well, yeah. Did you have something in mind?"

Sunny turned to Starflight. "Starflight, the Nightwings now have a huge library of scrolls, thanks in no small part to you and Fatespeaker. How wonderful would it be to have young minds across the continent learning from those scrolls, and putting that knowledge to use for the betterment of dragonkind?"

Starflight's muzzle lifted into a small smile. "It'd be wonderful indeed."

"It would. And Clay," she said, turning finally to their ever patient bigwings, "you and your troop share an unbreakable bond, as do the five of us. We're all one troop—one family—despite the fact that we come from different tribes. If we can forge a bond like this…who's to say other young dragonets can't?"

"Mm. Good point." He cocked his head. "So you want to go gather a bunch of dragonets…"

"…and bring them to this cave…" continued Glory.

"…so that we can teach them what we've learned…" quipped Starflight.

"…and ensure another big war never breaks out again," Tsunami finished. "You mean, you want to start a…"

Sunny swiveled her head, looking each of her friends in the eye. A smile grew on her muzzle.

"How does an academy sound?"

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** And it all comes full circle! :) What a fitting way for it to end, eh?

Wow guys. The End. I apologize in advance if I start rambling for a bit, because there are a lot of things I have to say now that _Under a War-Torn Sky_ is finished.

I didn't think I would see this day. I began this story over a year ago after finishing the first arc of WoF books. While I liked the books as they were, the ending of _The Brightest Night_ left me...I'll just say dissatisfied. This story sprouted from a simple "what if". What if Blister hadn't been stopped on the brightest night? What if the war had continued instead? Could the dragonets still fulfill the prophecy even despite the odds? Could they really stop Blister?

At its inception this story was a lot smaller and simpler scope. I intended to finish it in one summer. One year after the fact, I can safely say that - aside from being a _really_ slow writer - I've filled this story out and expanded it to a degree that I'm satisfied with. I built on the characters that Sutherland created, and introduced a few of my own. I tried to make these characters deeper, give them goals and motivations of their own instead of being one-dimensional obstacles for the heroes. I set out to write a better ending, but ended up with a mammoth of a story. At least, to me it does.

Granted, the story isn't perfect. In hindsight there were some things I wished I'd done differently, and many ideas that I never got around to implementing. You can see a few of them. Heron was going to get more attention, and I wanted to show her overcoming Caiman's death in more detail. The conflict between the Rainwings and Nightwings, while acknowledged and built on, wasn't tied up as neatly in the end as I wished. Starflight and Fatespeaker got left out largely towards the end, and Fierceteeth more or less vanished (I'll leave her fate up to you to decide for yourself :P).

But I realized something as I proceeded through the story. As much as I wished to build upon every aspect of Wings of Fire, and give every character a bit of the limelight, there was no way I could do so without derailing the course of the story. Ultimately this tale is about Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny, and while there are plenty of other great characters to write about I had to keep the focus on them. And you know what, I at least feel I did a good job in this regard. I like where the five dragonets ended at the close of this story - grown up, more wise and mature, but still the same DoD's that we know and love.

If nothing else this story has served as excellent practice for me as a writer. We all need to begin somewhere, and comparing the first few chapters of this story with the later ones really shows me how my style has changed and refined. This is the first long-form piece of writing that I've done. Over a hundred thousand words, it's taken 15 months to write.

And now, it's finally finished.

A favorite author of mine recently said that the best piece of advice she could offer any beginning writer is to finish what you start. No matter what it is, how big or small, how good or bad, finishing what you start teaches you everything about the writing process. I've learned a lot while writing this story, but most importantly I've gained confidence in myself. I've had a bad habit in the past of not finishing the stories I start. It's what's really handicapped me as a writer and shaken my confidence that I could actually do this, not just as an amateur but perhaps professionally someday. Part of the reason why I wrote _Under a War-Torn Sky_ was as a test for myself, to see if I could actually crank out a piece of publishable length. Sure it's fanfiction, but I didn't care. I told myself, if you can finish this story, and not make it terrible, then you have what it takes to actually write a book someday.

It took lots of hard work, lots of late nights, and a lot tearing myself away from computer games. But I stuck with story. I didn't abandon it, unlike most of the other stuff on my fanfiction profile. I wrote it all the way to the end, and despite its imperfections I can say that I feel proud of what I accomplished.

So where do I go from here? Well, those of you who have read my profile know that I've sort of moved on from WoF. Maybe it's just me changing as a person, but the series doesn't hold my interest as well anymore. This will most likely be the first and last long story for the WoF fandom that I write. Does that mean I'll never write again for this fandom? Not necessarily. Maybe, if my muse lands on something it likes, I'll end up writing a short story or one-shot. But certainly nothing as long as this story. More like in the range of five to six chapters at most.

Other than that I'll probably take some time off from this site to work on my own writing. I mentioned it way back when in some chapter or another, that writing contest I was doing for Inkitt. I didn't win - there were a lot of great submissions - but I'm not heartbroken. I'll simply carry on with my current WIP, The Children of the Sky, and see where that story takes me. Hopefully somewhere nice as well. :)

That about wraps things up. It's been a crazy ride guys, and I absolutely wouldn't have gotten as far as I did without your plentiful support. Your kind words and reviews, even something as simple as "keep up the good work" is enough to make me smile. Many of you have followed UaWTS since it began, and I hope I delivered on your expectations. I'd like to give a special shoutout to MCZ, whose been a consistent reviewer on not just my story, but many other stories within the WoF fandom. You rock :)

I feel both happy and sad to writing this. Whether or not this is the last time I write for you remains to be seen. For now, I'll say this. It's been a fantastic experience writing this story. Thank you for being a part of this incredibly journey, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

~SpicyDog99


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